Return to Hogwarts
by Marmalade Fever
Summary: As Harry looks forward to a Dursley and Voldemort free life, he and Hermione are summoned back to Hogwarts, this time as DADA and Transfiguration professors. HPHG (Complete.) Pre-HBP
1. An Unexpected Request

Return to Hogwarts  
  
By Marmalade Fever  
  
Chapter 1, An Unexpected Request  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own or claim any of the Harry Potter storyline or insignia so carefully plotted out by Ms. Rowling.  
  
It was summer. Only a month ago, Harry had spent two weeks recuperating in Mungos. He had been dismissed just in time to make it back to Hogwarts for a small graduation ceremony. He was now living in a small flat in London which he shared with his friend, Ron Weasley. Ron had recently acquired a small fortune. Apparently he had been given stocks for Weasley's Wizard Wheezes for Christmas and birthday alike the last two years in a row. It seemed quiet here. Ron was currently visiting his brother Charlie in Egypt. It hardly seemed possible to Harry that he could have defeated Lord Voldemort. It had been a great struggle of power, but in the end, the power of his heart, something Voldemort had not used in many a year, had defeated the Dark Lord and sent him into the after life.  
  
Harry was completely alone in the flat, lying on the sofa, and he rather liked it. There was no Aunt Petunia scolding him, no Dudley hogging the food, and best of all, no Uncle Vernon forbidding him from being himself.  
  
With a whoosh of wings something flew through the window and landed gracefully on his arm. The snowy, white owl bowed slightly before sticking out her right leg. Harry had sent Hermione a letter yesterday and was not surprised to find her reply. Strangely though, he found a second letter tied to Hedwig's left leg. This letter had Hogwarts insignia on it. Harry couldn't imagine why he would be sent such a letter, but continued to open Hermione's letter first.  
  
Dear Harry,  
  
I can't believe it! Right after I finished reading your letter, another arrived for me from Dumbledore. He told me that he's going to retire next year, and Professor McGonagall is going to take his place—and oh, Harry! He says that if I'm willing, McGonagall would like to train me this year as her replacement! Can you believe it? I just showed my parents the letter and they're thrilled. It's such an honor! Here I was trying to get a job as a waitress until I decided on a profession. Of course I'm going to take the job. It will be a great opportunity. I won't be seeing much of you or Ron, but—I'm sorry, it's a chance or a lifetime. Youngest professor in the history of the school! Okay, I'll let you get back to what you were doing.  
  
Love always, Hermione Granger  
  
Harry looked up from the letter, his head whirling. This seemed like just the thing to happen to Hermione. He only doubted for a second that she would be up to teaching 7th years. Head still spinning, Harry started when he saw his own letter from Hogwarts. He slipped his finger under the wax seal and began to read.  
  
Dear Mr. Potter,  
  
As you fully know, Hogwarts is in need of a new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor for the seventh year in a row. The current list of candidates has sunk to a meager handful. Due to your scores, proficiency, N.E.W.T.'s, O.W.L.'s, stamina, hands-on experience, and similar previous position as president of the D.A., you will not be surprised to learn that you are at the head of the aforementioned list. Hogwarts would be more than grateful to receive such an asset as yourself. Therefore, I am asking as a personal favor that you would consider returning to Hogwarts on the first of September as our ally. If you should feel an inkling in this direction, please send a return owl and you shall be sent information regarding arrival, etc.  
  
With warm wishes, Albus Dumbledore  
  
Harry's heart had just skipped several beats. He could not believe his good fortune. His hopes of becoming an auror had been squashed by his grades. Now though, he felt as if this were the opportunity he had been waiting for his whole life. Hogwarts was, and always would be, his home. Hastily, he grabbed a pencil and flipped over the letter from Dumbledore, before setting it down again and running off for parchment, a quill, and an inkwell.  
  
Dear Professor Dumbledore,  
  
I would be more than honored to return to Hogwarts as a professor. I am sorry to hear the news of your retirement. Hermione Granger has already told me that she will be taking over Professor McGonagall's postion. Thank you again.  
  
Harry Potter  
  
Harry tied this letter to Hedwig's leg. He then made a copy of his letter from Dumbledore, scrawled a note to Hermione on the back, and gave Hedwig two owl treats before giving her a kiss on the head and letting her fly through the window. He flopped himself on the sofa and looked at the beige stucco ceiling which seemed to him to reflect the sun and clouds just as the one in the great hall. This would be a year to remember.  
  
A. N. Read and review, perdy please! I'll try and get a second chapter up when I can. 


	2. September the First

Chapter 2, September the First  
  
Ron had been dumbfounded by Harry's news. "Both of you are going to be TEACHERS?" he had asked. Harry had nodded. After a while Ron had brought to Harry's attention the fact that Ginny was still at Hogwarts... not to mention the Creevey brothers, and the rumor that neither Crabbe nor Goyle had graduated. Harry's stomach had started bubbling. He had not actually thought about the teaching bit. He still remembered much of what he had taught to the D.A. and what his many, many DADA teachers had taught him. He had made plans to meet up with Hermione at nine o'clock on September first at Diagon Alley. After that they would apparate to Hogsmeade and walk from there.  
  
The days ticked by slowly and at last Harry grabbed hold of his luggage and apparated to Diagon Alley. He found Hermione sitting at on a bench outside of Flourish and Blotts. She looked different somehow. She had her hair pulled back in a McGonagall-fashion bun and was wearing a pair of midnight- blue robes.  
  
"Hello Harry!" she greeted him, jumping up and giving him a hug. "I've just been reading this book on Hogwarts teachers. Funny subject, actually. I was right you know. I am the youngest. Not by much of course... but my birthday isn't for a couple weeks."  
  
Harry smiled and offered to help her with her luggage. "I almost forgot your birthday's in September," Harry said. "I'll have to pick something up for you."  
  
"Oh," she said, blushing. "Oh, you don't have to do that." They walked down the street and stopped to pick up some supplies. Harry was glad that Hermione had different robes on, or else he might have neglected to get a set without the school crest on them. When he did buy a pair, they too wear black. They wandered into a shop with a sign up front which read, "Nectar Duchesses, An Off Branch of Honeydukes," where Hermione purchased a jar of hard candy to keep on her desk. While she ducked into a lady's clothing store, Harry went across the way to buy a birthday present. He went inside the pet store where she had been distracted by Crookshanks all those years ago and found a black and white speckled owl for her. When he met up with her again she gasped.  
  
"Happy birthday!" Harry said, handing over the bird.  
  
"Thank you so much Harry!" Hermione gave him a second hug.  
  
"You two dating then, Potter?" asked a drawling voice Harry had hoped to never hear again. Hermione backed out of Harry's arms and squinted up at a young man with slick blond hair, wearing a very expensive looking pair of silk robes.  
  
"Malfoy," Harry said, coolly.  
  
"Right," Malfoy said, smirking. "By the way Potter, I hope you know that there aren't any teachers to watch your back anymore." Hermione laughed slightly. "Silly little Draco must not have heard the news," she said, in a sing-song voice.  
  
"What's this?" Malfoy asked, eyebrows knitting.  
  
"We've just become professors," Hermione said, smiling in a would-be innocent way.  
  
"Yeah," said Harry. "So if you ever choose to have children, which I severely hope you don't, I'd teach them some manners before sending them off if I were you."  
  
"See you later," Hermione said cheerfully before grabbing Harry's arm and walking off without a backward glance.  
  
It was four o'clock when they arrived in Hogsmeade, and they were so weighed down by packages that Hermione ended up getting out her wand and magicking them so that they would glide before her. They walked slowly down the road that led to the school. Harry's nerves were starting up again. He did not like the idea of preparing lesson plan after lesson plan and then actually using them. It would be nice to see Dumbledore again, and Harry was also glad that Hermione would be here. He glanced over at her and she smiled. Her teeth were straight and white and he couldn't help but smile back. His stomach did an odd sort of flip-flop and he jerked his eyes back onto the road, trying hard to get Malfoy's comment out of his head. At the same time though, he was thinking about the hug they had shared. Hermione was his friend, but could there ever be more? He scolded himself for thinking about it at all.  
  
They reached the castle about fifteen minutes later and climbed up the stairs, not entirely sure where they should go. Professor Flitwick popped his head through the doors into the Great Hall and greeted them.  
  
"Hello, hello, hello!" he said, gesturing them to come forward. "Excellent charm, Miss Granger," he said, admiring Hermione's handiwork. He led them up to the staff table where a few of the other teachers were huddled around an assortment of papers.  
  
"Ah, good!" Professor McGonagall said, coming to greet them. "I'll give you the teacher's tour. You can leave your things here. An elf named Dobby asked to put your things away personally... by the way Miss Granger, excellent bun." She led them out of the hall and up to the staff room. Harry had been here before, but had not had a very good look. There were tables as well as sofas and an area where they could find tea and coffee. Then she led them down the hall and to the entrance of Dumbledore's office.  
  
"The password is 'Cotton Candy,'" she said. "I don't know what that is. Some sort of muggle sweet, I imagine." The stairs leading to Dumbledore's office opened up, but they kept on walking. "I trust you know where your classrooms will be?" she asked. They both nodded. "Miss Granger, you will be sharing an office with me until I'm made Headmistress. Potter, I'm sure you know where your office will be." Harry almost thought this was funny. He had been into that office under seven different occupants, but he had never dreamed that it would someday be his. "Your apartments are adjoining your offices. If you wish, we can set these up with passwords."  
  
"Professor, are we--?"  
  
"No, no, we aren't sharing apartments Miss Granger. I almost forgot. There's a second room leading from our office." Hermione sighed. "That pretty much wraps things up. Professor Sinistra will be taking over as head of house for Gryffindor. Between classes, it's a good idea to keep a lookout for troublemakers. I'll be giving you your schedules after dinner. You're free to do as you wish. The students will be arriving at 6 o'clock, so be back in the Great Hall by a quarter till." They thanked Professor McGonagall and she walked off.  
  
"Want to take a look at our apartments then?" Harry asked. They walked toward his office first, as it was closer. His office was completely unfurnished, except for the pile of his things on a desk and a chair. "Er," Harry said, looking up and down the walls for a door.  
  
"Here it is," Hermione said, tapping his shoulder. One part of the wall was completely bare except for a minute piece of wood, no bigger than a pea. Hermione tapped it lightly with her wand and a door opened up. They walked in. There was a bed, a wardrobe, an adjoining bathroom, and a nightstand with a lamp. The walls were decorated with polished wood halfway up with light blue paint above. Harry was pleased to find several homely decorations on the mantle of a fireplace in the wall.  
  
"This is excellent," Harry said, examining a beautiful Persian rug on the floor.  
  
"Yeah, it is," Hermione said, nodding. By the time they had gone to see Hermione's room as well, it was time to be getting back down to the feast.  
  
As they entered the Great Hall, Harry was amazed at how weird it felt to be heading toward the staff table, rather than the Gryffindor table he had ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner at for the last seven years in a row. Then he moved uncomfortably as he caught a glance at Snape, who was just sitting down next to Madam Hooch. They sat down alongside the chair they supposed to be Hagrid's. Harry tried to remind himself that this was only a feast and not to be too nervous, but he couldn't help it.  
  
"Don't worry Harry," Hermione said, soothingly, laying a hand on his arm. His stomach flopped again. He smiled up at her and tried to explain his stomach's ailment away to himself as nothing more than hunger. Hermione was his friend after all. Although, as Harry swept his eyes up and down the table, he realized that if he was going to be committed to this job, Hermione was going to be the only non-student available as a future wife, unless he suddenly felt like becoming better acquainted to Professor Trelawney. It was much too early to be worrying about that though.  
  
Students began to flood into the hall rather more suddenly than Harry had expected. With a pang he realized that every single one of them was going to be his student and expect him to act like a professional. Across the hall, Harry spotted a familiar face. A girl with a mop of red hair was waving to him. He waved back. Over at the Slytherin table, Harry was pleased to find that neither Crabbe or Goyle were in sight. The rumbling died down and Professor McGonagall came in leading miniscule looking first- years. Harry watched and clapped as each new student took his or her place at a table. When Dumbledore stood up, Harry knew what was coming.  
  
"Welcome back! Before the feast starts, we have a few announcements. I am sorry to tell you that this is my last year as the Headmaster of Hogwarts." A great murmur of disappointment came over the room, and Harry noticed one girl had even burst into tears. "My replacement will be Professor Minerva McGonagall." Professor McGonagall stood up and everyone clapped. "As she will not be teaching any longer after this year, we have chosen a replacement for her as well. Professor Granger, if you would?" Hermione stood, trying her best not to smile too much and look professional. There was a scatter of applause, loudest at the Gryffindor table. "Lastly, the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor has been filled once more. If you all would welcome Professor Potter?" Harry stood, bumping against the table as he did so. Everyone was clapping, with the exception of some of the elder Slytherins. He beamed nervously and sat, glad that it was over.  
  
The feast was as excellent as usual. Harry noticed a few different items on the staff table, especially an upgrade on the amount of vegetables. Hermione was talking enthusiastically to him about her ideas for lessons. He nodded, not especially looking forward to his first day of teaching. He was looking slightly enviously at the students who didn't have to put on the show every day. Hagrid had sat down.  
  
"All right Harry?" he asked. "I cried when I foun' out you two was goin ter be made teachers. But yeh derserve it. Yeh really do."  
  
Harry looked further down the table where Snape was sitting, and was not surprised to see the look of malice he was giving him. When Lupin had been made Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Snape had stared at him with a look of hatrid so foul a daisy might have wilted under it. This was very similar to the look Harry was receiving now. After dinner McGonagall handed Harry and Hermione their schedules and Harry set off for his new apartments. He looked over the list in his hands. Tomorrow he would be teaching hufflepuff third-years first, then N.E.W.T. students, and would finish off with Gryffindor first years. He put his wand to the door and entered. As he climbed into bed, anticipation swimming through his head, his last thought was of Hermione's smile, and his stomach flopped once more before he fell to sleep.  
  
A.N. Thank you so much for all of you who read the first chapter! I hope this one was good. It may take me a few days between chapters. I don't know. ( 


	3. Teaching and a Theory Proven

Chapter 3, Teaching and a Theory Proven  
  
"So I'm the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher now...so...so...now what?" Harry thought. When he had awoken in a large bed in a blue room, he had been a bit startled. After a moment though, he knew where he was and why he was there. He hadn't brought his things into his room, so he opened the door into his office and dragged his bags in before he was able to get dressed. It was rather eerie having such a big room to himself. In his flat with Ron, they had been sharing a room smaller than this one. With a sigh, Harry realized that he didn't have anything in his classroom, and would need to prepare it a bit before his class with the Hufflepuffs. Never mind trying to get a bite of breakfast. By the time he had gotten to his classroom and dropped off some rudimentary teaching supplies he only had a few minutes left for breakfast. He jogged there, then slowed down as some first-years eyed him as if he were mad. He walked across the Great Hall, ignoring the staring that came with being himself, and sat down next to Hermione.  
  
"You made it," she said. She was looking brighter than usual and very excited. Harry decided that this must be a bit of a treat for her. He helped himself to some bacon.  
  
"Yep," Harry said, wolfing down a bit of toast. "Classroom wasn't ready."  
  
Hermione started, then relaxed. "I keep forgetting that McGonagall's still the main teacher. She'll have 30 years worth of preparation down for our room...Big shoes to fill."  
  
Harry scarfed down some eggs and they stood up to leave. "Best to get there before the student's, I'd think," Hermione said cheerily. Despite Hermione's words, there were still about seven students in Harry's room, waiting for him. He strolled as calmly as possible to his desk and sat down. He reached inside his drawer and pulled out some notes he had written down. He had made a page of teaching suggestions for each individual year. Luckily, third year was one of the few that he actually had a clue about. The bell had rang and many more students had begun to file into his classroom. There weren't too many students in all, and Harry was grateful for it. When all had settled down Harry stood up and wrote his name on the board.  
  
"Good morning everyone and welcome to your third year," he said. "To start off, I'd like to get to know all of your names." This had been a plan of Harry's to help himself to relax as well as buy him some time. "Okay, what I want you to do is to all stand up and form two lines. We're going to make this into a game. The head of each line will tell me their name, and then I'm going to ask each a question to see where you are."  
  
A hand shot into the air. It was a girl with blond hair in two braids.  
  
"Er, yes?" Harry asked, pointing to her.  
  
"Are you really Harry Potter?"  
  
"Um, yes," Harry said. These were third years, they had gone to school with him for two years, so he thought they'd be a bit brighter than that. The girl didn't say anything more but got into line with the others. There were two boys at the head of either of the lines. Harry pointed two each of them. They were named John and Lou.  
  
"What would you say if you wanted to stun someone?" Harry asked John.  
  
"I'd say that I'm in love with their mum," the boy said. Clearly, Harry had just found a class clown. Harry shook his head and asked Lou the same question.  
  
"I'd hit them over the head with an oversized mallet." The pig-tailed girl shot her hand in the air.  
  
"Yes?" he asked her. To Harry's horror she pulled out her wand and pointed it at both the boys shouting, "Stupify! Stupify!" She looked downright pleased with herself. Harry quickly got out his wand and said "ennervate" to each. "What in the world was that about?" Harry asked her.  
  
"They aren't named after toilets," she said, "they're Warren and Barry. They knew perfectly well what the answer was. They just don't like you."  
  
"Just the same," Harry said, sternly, "I'm taking fifteen points from Hufflepuff. Now would somebody take these two to the hospital wing? Oh, and you," he pointed to the blond girl, "what's your name anyway?"  
  
"It's Betty," she said, "Betty Brown. I think you know my cousin, Lavender."  
  
Harry nodded and turned to the next person in line. This was a girl named Ginger who knew what a redcap was. The class dragged by and the bell finally rang. He warned Betty that if she were to pull something like that again, it would mean a detention. It was break now and Hermione came into Harry's classroom, looking slightly upset.  
  
"I just had the most horrid experience!" she said. "I was helping teach a class of 5th year Slytherins and it was going fine up until McGonagall left the room for a few minutes. You know what one of the little darlings did? He asked me out! Then when I said no, he started reciting a poem in which he compared me to a horny toad with flobber worms sticking out of its head! I had to give him four detentions and take away fifty points before he stopped. Then he still kept winking at me from across the room. McGonagall even asked him if he had something in his eye." Hermione was still fuming. Harry told her about the experience he'd had with Lavender's cousin.  
  
"She stunned them?" she asked. "That's strange."  
  
"Yeah, I know." They headed over to the teachers lounge, but didn't stay long, noticing a very irritable looking Snape looming by the coffee table. Harry went back to his classroom and waited for the N.E.W.T. students to arrive. His classroom ended up being very full. Defense Against the Dark Arts was a popular subject, though there wasn't a single slytherin in sight. This class had all seventh years in it.  
  
"Good morning," Harry greeted them. There were many familiar faces in this group. He got out the role sheet and made sure they were all there. The last to be called was Ginny, who had taken a seat near the front next to her newest beau. "Alright," Harry said, "this is going to be a hard class. Keep your wits about you, do your homework, and most of all try to study, and you should be fine. First we'll be starting out with an overview, so everyone, get out your wands and we'll practice the..." Harry had been about to say the shield charm, but a knock came at the door.  
  
"Come in," Harry said, straightening himself, and in walked Snape. "Potter, the headmaster wishes to see you, and I shall be taking over for you here for the remainder of the class." Snape looked almost as if he had just been given a sort of treat, and this gave Harry a chill down his back.  
  
"Very well," Harry turned to the class. "While I'm gone, I want you to..."  
  
"I'd get going if I were you, Potter."  
  
"...practice the shield charm, the stun charm, and the..."  
  
"I can take over from here."  
  
"...disarming charm." Harry winked at the students and left toward Dumbledore's office. "Cotton candy," he muttered to the gargoyles before climbing the staircase to the circular office above. He rapped lightly on the door and went in.  
  
"Aw, Harry! Good to see you," Dumbledore said. He was looking very tired lately, but his eyes still sparkled behind his half-moon spectacles.  
  
"You wanted to see me sir?"  
  
"Yes Harry. Have a seat." Harry did as he was told. "I just received some very odd news from Professor Sprout. She said that one of her third year Hufflepuffs was crying, apparently because of you."  
  
Harry blinked. "Do you mean Betty Brown?"  
  
Dumbledore nodded. "Professor Sprout couldn't get a good account of the story from the girl."  
  
"Well, I'm still a little confused too," Harry admitted. He told Dumbledore what had happened throughout the lesson. "I didn't know she would cry. In fact, I don't know what I could have done to make her cry."  
  
Dumbledore surveyed Harry. "It seems to me," he said, "that she had been trying to impress you by her show of knowledge of the stunning charm. You then proceeded to take points away, a thing that might have led her to feel like she had been misbehaving when she had only been trying to show herself as superior to those two boys. I don't disagree with what you did though, Harry.  
  
"Any matter, this is not the only reason why I've called you to my office. I wanted to ask how you've been feeling lately. Voldemort's downfall is still recent, and I see that your scar has nearly vanished now."  
  
Dumbledore was right. Since his defeat of Voldemort, his scar had slowly been dissolving back into ordinary flesh. "I feel fine," Harry admitted. This was the truth. Now that it was all over, it was as if a great weight had been lifted from him.  
  
"I have a little experiment I would like to conduct, if you don't mind, Harry." Dumbledore stood and walked over to a small cage in the corner that Harry had not noticed. He brought it over. "Ask this snake a question," Dumbledore said calmly, as if this were a normal thing to do.  
  
Harry looked at the snake and screwed up his eyes. "What breed are you?" The snake said nothing.  
  
"I'm afraid, Harry, that that was in perfect English."  
  
Harry looked at the snake again. "Where were you born?" The snake did nothing. It could not hear him.  
  
"English again. This seems to prove my theory. Harry, you are now as you were the day you were born. With the demise of Voldemort, you are now free of all things the two of you shared."  
  
Harry didn't know what to say. He stood up and shook Dumbledore's hand and left again for his class. Snape seemed reluctant to stop his reign of terror on Harry's class, but left again for his dungeon. The rest of the day passed without interest.  
  
A.N. I haven't read any other fics like this, but if you search for, say, Harry DADA teacher, or something like that, you might find something. Also, I've started to get a little unsure of where to go from here, so any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks again for R/R'ing. Be sure to check out my other fics, too. 


	4. Hermione's Birthday

Chapter 4, Hermione's Birthday

Harry's first week of teaching had been difficult. All of his classes with the Slytherins had resulted in their loss of many, many points. Particularly bad was his class with the fifth year Slytherins that Hermione had taught. The same boy who had tormented Hermione had been more than a little rude to Harry. He had refused to say his name, first of all. Then he had let a go of a dungbomb right on Harry's desk, saying that Harry must have eaten something particularly bad for lunch. He had constantly talked well above a whisper, saying how he planned to serenade Professor Granger with a very nasty set of lyrics, and on and on until he had wound up taking away the remaining points awarded to Slytherin and won himself a month's worth of detentions. Hermione had been sympathetic, saying that this particular boy had his name down in every single teacher's book as a troublemaker. She also told him that she had found a bouquet of Stink Lilies on her desk with a note that said she looked as well as the flowers smelled.

Harry had also mentioned to her what Dumbledore had said and she pointed out that the fact that his scar was disappearing was probably why Betty had asked if he were really Harry Potter.

"You can't speak parsel tongue any more?" she asked, very much surprised.

"Nope," Harry said. "But it's not like I run into all that many snakes, anyway." Harry thought back to his last conversation with a snake. It had only been a few months ago. Nagini, Voldemort's snake, had been wrapped around his entire body.

"Leave me!" Harry had hissed.

"You have no right to order me around," the snake had hissed back. "I serve one Master, and he is your enemy. He has promised me that I may eat you when you have died."

"Am I dead now?" Harry asked.

"No, but soon, very soon." She had tightened her grip.

"Your master would not be pleased if you should be the one to kill me," Harry whispered menacingly. "He does not care for you. He cares for no one. When he is done with you, he will have you killed."

"No!" the snake had hissed. "You lie, you lie!" Nagini broke her hold to call to her master, and in that moment Harry had broken free. He summoned up all his hatred and used the death curse to destroy the snake.

A shiver ran down Harry's back. The further he was from any gift given to him by Voldemort, the better. He did not want to be like him. It was better this way.

Harry's thoughts returned to a pleasanter matter. During the past days, he had made up his mind that he had not been imagining his feelings for Hermione. They were real. His feelings for Cho had been only skin- deep. He already loved Hermione. He had for years now. With Ron out of sight, and out of mind, Harry felt much freer. He had come up with a plan. Hermione's birthday was going to be on a Saturday in another week and a half. He was going to ask her to go with him to Hogsmeade, and he was going to tell her there. He couldn't bear to go much longer without her knowing. He had felt enough of that sort of apprehension with Cho. He wasn't about to waste his time. The days leading up to the 18th were very fun for Harry. He had left a beautiful bouquet of amaryllis for her on her desk, with a note that said that it was from her secret admirer, who, by the way, was not a certain Slytherin boy without manners. He had also taken to leaving her other notes around the castle where she was sure to find them. Each of which led up to a request to meet with her on her birthday at noon at a restaurant in Hogsmeade.

"It's very strange," Hermione had said, after finding a note which said "on your" on it. "I'm almost certain that this isn't another trick by that bratty Slytherin. Someone actually wants to, erm, get to know me better." She was blushing. Harry had to fake a cough attack just to hide his smile.

"I really think you should go to meet this guy," Harry said at last.

"You know? I think I will. I wonder who it could be? It can't be one of the students, that's not a Hogsmeade weekend..."

On the morning of Hermione's birthday, Harry told her that he was going to stay and work on grading papers, but around ten, he slipped on his invisibility cloak and hurried off to Hogsmeade. He gave the greeter and waiter a set of instructions. At exactly noon, Harry caught a glance of Hermione, dressed up a bit, walk through the door.

"How do you do, ma'am? We've been expecting you." He led her to a table. Then a waiter appeared and brought with him a hors d'oeuvre platter. "A young gentleman asked that you close your eyes for a moment." Hermione did as she was told and Harry crept into the seat across from her. He slipped his invisibility cloak off and tapped her lightly on the shoulder. She opened her eyes and jumped several inches.

"Harry! What are you doing here!" she was looking all around her, very confused. "Hang on..."

"Ha ha," Harry muttered.

"Wait a minute, are you...?"

"Happy birthday Hermione." Her face fell for a moment, but then she smiled.

"You tricked me into thinking I had a secret admirer so you could throw me a surprise party!" Harry went red.

"Er, no Hermione. I, I am your secret admirer." Hermione started laughing very hard.

"Oh, Harry," she said, wiping a tear from her eye. "Really though, what is this all about?"

"Well," Harry said, adjusting himself uncomfortably. "The thing is..." He looked down at a crab puff on the platter. Hermione had suddenly become very rigid.

"You mean, you, you...? Harry, is this... a date?" She looked positively alarmed. Then she broke into a smile and she reached over and held his hand. "I've been waiting for this moment for years, you know. Ever since we first met, I've liked you. It was hard on me when I realized that you only saw me as a friend, and I got over it. I should have told you years ago... Harry, I love you." Now it was Harry's turn to blush. He looked up and saw that her eyes were welling up with tears.

"No, don't cry, don't cry..." He reached with his thumb and wiped one of the glittering drops away. His throat had closed up. He started to worry that he might start crying too, but instead took a long draught of water. "Well," he said, after a minute. "Shall we order?" Their waiter was hovering in the corner, looking uncomfortable. Hermione looked up and gave Harry a forced smile.

"I'm not very hungry," she said. "Why don't we go for a walk?"

"Alright then," Harry said, and to his great pleasure, she put her arm through his as they left through the door... and Harry was very glad that Ron couldn't see them.

A.N.: Yeah, yeah, I know. That was really sudden. If this were in the books, Harry probably would have waited a whole lot longer, but as this is just a fic, and I don't really have a big plot to put in to distract you, I decided to go ahead and put it in. Also, I don't know the date of Hermione's birthday. In PoA she mentioned that it was in September, and I couldn't help but give her my birthday. Hee hee. Also, please refrain from cursing in reviews.

**(Several years after this was originally written.)** I am at a lack for words. That was _cheesy._ I remembered it being corny, but that was really, really, _really_ bad. O_o I promise you my more recent fanfics are about five-hundred times better. Blurgh.


	5. The Lethifold

Chapter 5- The Lethifold  
  
When Harry and Hermione had arrived back at the castle, they were holding hands. They continued to do so, even as they walked through the Great Hall and up to the Staff Table.  
  
"What's this?" Professor McGonagall asked, eyeing them. "You two finally get together? About time." The two of them blushed and dropped hands. Dumbledore, too, was surveying them through his half-moon spectacles. He winked at them, but didn't say anything. Hermione spooned some casserole onto her plate and Harry poured each of them a goblet of pumpkin juice. Today had been one of the best days of his life. He could hardly break his eyes away from her to eat.  
  
Down the table, Professor Snape was staring at his two ex-students. They were both acting completely in love and it was making him sick. It was bad enough that the woman he had loved so long ago had chosen this boy's father, but that the boy had found love before he did was an outrage. It was so picture perfect that it was revolting. They would probably end up married, he thought to himself, and yet another generation of Potters would be born and he would never be free. The piece of salmon on his plate no longer looked inviting. He'd make sure that his Slytherin students would give the young couple the worst week in their lives.  
  
Harry walked Hermione back to her office door. She gave him a fleeting kiss on the cheek and left for bed. A cold snicker came from somewhere behind him. Wand out he flung himself around. "Lumos," he breathed. The corridor was illuminated, but he saw nothing. A high-pitched scream came from Hermione's office and Harry flew inside. Hermione was wrapped in a black-cloth like thing. Slowly, it was cutting off her oxygen supply. Harry's mind flickered back to a Care of Magical Creatures class and, though he had forgotten this creature's name, he knew exactly what to do. He held up his wand and shouted with all his might, "Expecto patronum!" A glittering, white, translucent stag erupted from his wand and pitched itself against the creature, which suddenly glowed like brilliant white lava and broke away into pieces of fluttering ash. Hermione lay crumpled on the floor. Harry ran up to her and lifted her into his arms. Coughing, she opened her eyes again. She was blinking at him, her vision obviously blurred.  
  
"A lethifold!" Hermione gasped at last. The white stag bowed before her and vanished.  
  
"Are you alright?" Harry asked her. "Need to go to the hospital wing?"  
  
"I, I think I'm fine now." She was still panting and her face was flushed. "We should tell someone that there's a lethifold running free in the castle, though."  
  
"My patronus completely destroyed it," Harry said, looking at her with concern.  
  
"It did? That's not what happened in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them."  
  
"Yeah, well, I had a much more powerful thought controlling mine... didn't the bloke in the book remember being voted president of a Gobstones club?"  
  
Hermione laughed. "Exactly. Just the same though, I think we better tell someone." Harry nodded and they walked back toward the teacher's lounge.  
  
"Hermione," Harry said, as they walked up the spiral staircase. "Before I heard you scream, I also heard someone laughing."  
  
"All the more reason to tell everyone," Hermione said. They walked into the teacher's lounge where Professors McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick, and the man who taught Muggle Studies, who's name Harry had forgotten.  
  
"A lethifold just attacked me in my office!" Hermione announced. The four of them looked up.  
  
"Is it loose in the castle?" Flitwick asked, jumping to his feet and looking apprehensive.  
  
Harry shook his head. "I got it with a patronus and it was destroyed."  
  
"A lethifold?" the Muggle Studies professor asked, shivering.  
  
"Now, now," Snape said coolly. "Lethifolds only live in humid jungle-like environments. Are you sure it wasn't just a sheet, Miss Granger?"  
  
"Severus, this isn't the time!" McGonagall said, angrily. "If there was a lethifold loose in the castle, then someone must have brought it with them. You said it was in our office. These creatures usually don't attack unless their victim is asleep. Did you see it coming? Was there anything unusual?"  
  
Harry piped up. "Just as I was leaving I heard someone laughing in the corridor. Whoever it was might have let it loose in there. I heard her scream right when I was about to investigate."  
  
"Do you think it was a student?" Flitwick asked, nervously.  
  
"Don't know," said Harry. "It was hard to tell by the voice."  
  
"Well, if it was, and if it was done on purpose, then that student may be facing expulsion," McGonagall said, firmly. Harry thought back and wished that he had had his Marauder's Map with him at the time. He would have been able to figure who the great git had been. Whoever it was would rue the day that they had attacked Hermione.  
  
"Is there any way we can find out who spent their holiday in a place like that?" Hermione asked.  
  
McGonagall shook her head. "It would take a lot of investigation. In the meantime I will report this to the Headmaster."  
  
"Wait a second, wait a second!" The Muggle Studies professor had wandered over the book shelf and was now sporting a copy of Fantastic Beasts. "This is a very new edition," he said. "It says here that lethifolds are only driven away by a patronus. They can't be destroyed!" He said this as if they were all in great danger.  
  
"Well the one I got turned white and broke up into pieces of fluttering ash," Harry said, almost defiantly.  
  
"You don't say?" said a voice behind Harry. He spun around to see Dumbledore. "It seems to me," he said, "that this was not a true lethifold. Rather, this was instead a powerful spell meant to mimic a true lethifold. If left to its own devices, it would have ended up shriveling and Hermione would have been free." The Muggle Studies professor dropped into a chair, giving off a great sigh of relief.  
  
"So it wasn't real?" Harry said. Somehow he felt disappointed.  
  
"Oh, no. I was real, just not alive," Dumbldore said. "Miss Granger, I would like to inspect the remains of this, er, thing. Would you lead the way?"  
  
"Of course, Professor," Hermione said, straightening up and leading the way down the hall. Harry began to follow, but gave Snape a fleeting glance first. Somewhere behind those shiny eyes, Harry could see what looked like content.  
  
"So, what'd Dumbledore do with the remains of the 'lethifold?'" Harry asked Hermione the next day.  
  
"Took a sample of it," she said. "He's going to have Snape run some sort of test on it with one of his potions. He said it'd help lead us to the culprit."  
  
"Ha!" Harry said glumly. "But what about if the culprit's Snape?"  
  
Hermione gave Harry an imploring look. "Harry, we've been through this. Snape isn't trying to kill us... or have you forgotten when he saved your life for the third time last year?"  
  
"This is different," Harry said. "You heard Dumbledore. That thing was harmless."  
  
"He didn't do it," Hermione said flatly. "You know it as well as I do."  
  
Harry sighed. "I hope your right. Okay, if it wasn't Snape, then how about Lover Boy?"  
  
"Oh yeah, I'd almost forgotten about that nictitating git."  
  
"You're using big words again."  
  
"It means to flirt by winking. Anyway, I think we can rule him out. Besides being a complete abecedarian, he really isn't all that great with a wand."  
  
"Er, Hermione?"  
  
"Someone who's learning to read. Honestly, you did get me that word-of-the- day cauldron last year, what do you expect?"  
  
Harry shook his head, but then started, as Ginny stuck her head through the door of Harry's office.  
  
"May I?" she asked.  
  
"Come on in," Harry said, conjuring another chair for her to sit in. "What's up?"  
  
"Not much, just thought I'd come and see how the two of you were doing." Ginny looked rather mischievous as she said this. "So, you two an item now? I need to know before I finish my letter to Mum."  
  
Harry goggled at her slightly. He hadn't been that anxious for the Weasley's to find out about them.  
  
"I think so," Hermione answered, smiling with equal mischievous. The two girls went into giggles and Harry felt his stomach turn over.  
  
"You two been talking about me?"  
  
"You, Viktor, Ron, boys in general... yeah. S'pose so," Ginny said, winking, and Harry shuddered slightly. "Don't worry though, you don't have a lick of competition. Okay, well, I'm going to finish this letter, and I guess I'll see you in the morning for lessons. See you." Ginny left in a flash of red hair.  
  
"Viktor? Ron?" Harry asked, turning to Hermione.  
  
"Aw, don't give me that face," Hermione said, and she kissed his cheek. "I'm taken now."  
  
"Good."  
  
A.N.: Thanks ER Burner Full of Cookies. I'm curious though, how'd you know when her birthday was? A calendar maybe? This chapter seemed okay to me, though I've been pretty skeptical of all of them except for chapter 1. I went into some sort of third person not quite limited, not quite omniscient back there with Snape. Can you tell I've been reading Fantastic Beasts? I betcha that one of those will be in a book someday. Okay, thanks again for R& R'ing. I would probably have dropped off this fic early on if I hadn't gotten good feedback. See ya! 


	6. Detention

Chapter 6, Detention  
  
By Marmalade Fever  
  
Monday morning rolled in and Harry and Hermione were sitting together at the staff table eating breakfast. The morning mail was just coming in with the rustle of a hundred wings. Two unfamiliar pure white owls had alighted in front of them, each with an identical ivory envelope attached to its leg. Looking around, Harry noticed that many of these same white owls had landed elsewhere. The nearest of the owls had his name on its envelope and he took it. A very glossy looking card fell out. Hermione was holding an identical one.  
  
_Mr. and Mrs. Barlodrone Abbott and Mr. and Mrs. Conrad Macmillan are proud to invite you and a guest to the joining of their children, Hannah Louise Abbott and Ernest Robert Macmillan in holy matrimony on Sunday the 22nd of October in the Chapel of Greenery at ten of the clock of this year. Please reply with return owl as well as a statement of whether you would prefer chicken, fish, steak, or eggplant. Thank you.  
_  
"THEIR GETTING MARRIED?" Hermione said in a tone of utmost horror.  
  
"I know," Harry said, "scary thought, eh?"  
  
"Extremely!" she said, but then calmed herself. "I suppose we should reply then." She grabbed a piece of parchment and quill out of a bag and wrote that she and Harry would both come and that they would both prefer chicken.  
  
"Want to be my guest?" Harry asked.  
  
"Sure," Hermione said, attaching the reply onto the leg of one of the owls, which flew off. "Aren't they a little young? You know, to be getting married?"  
  
"Probably, but they have been friends for ages now, and they've been dating the last few years," Harry said, calmly. Despite his efforts to comfort Hermione, his own head was reeling. Surely, they were too young to be getting married, right? Right? He only hoped this wouldn't give her any funny ideas... about them.  
  
"I've got a detention with lover-boy tonight," Harry informed Hermione. For some odd reason, neither of them had of yet been able to figure out his name.  
  
"Goody," Hermione said sarcastically. The boy had been given so many detentions now that each teacher had agreed to take him in turn, so that no one had to deal with him for so long. Professor Flitwick leaned in.  
  
"Hermione, would you be so kind as to pass the maple syrup? Thank you. So, Harry, you say you have a detention with that boy?" He looked around to make sure no one was listening. "He's simply ghastly. I had a few detentions with him last week, and, in the process, he earned himself another seventeen! I don't like speaking ill of people, but if he doesn't shape up, it might be time for Dumbledore to consider expulsion."  
  
Harry nodded. As someone who had had many close-calls when it came to expulsion, he was reluctant to send even the worst student packing...but this kid was horrid. It sounded to him like the staff would be wasting its time every night trying to get the boy to understand for the next three years. Even Snape had secretly confided with other professors that he loathed the boy, and he was the head of his house! At this rate, Slytherin would easily lose the house cup, leaving either Ravenclaw or Gryffindor in first place. That, at least, was reason enough to keep the little pill.  
  
Once again it was his day for class with the Hufflepuff third-years, N.E.W.T. seventh years, and Gryffindor first years. The Hufflepuffs were still a little odd. The two boys who had been stunned his first day seemed downright afraid of him. Betty, on the other hand, just kept staring up at him, occasionally raising her hand with an out-of-topic question. The N.E.W.T. students were doing great, though. Luna Lovegood and Ginny were so good at Defense that they were able to defend themselves from some of the worst jinxes Harry sent their way. He was sure though, that if he was to show his real power, neither of them would survive. Last year, at their age, he had been nearly as advanced as Dumbledore himself, and that was saying something. His professor had been almost afraid to call on him. The Gryffindor first years were amazingly easy to teach. They only learned the most basic pieces to the big puzzle that was defense against the dark arts. Harry's largest problems with them was trying to get them to speak loud enough and hold their wands correctly. Try as he might, he could barely remember what Quirrel had taught his first year class.  
  
After dinner with Hermione Harry went to his office to await the arrival of the Slytherin boy. Not surprisingly, he was nearly a quarter hour late. "Okay," Harry said as the boy finally ambled in, hair an odd shade of lime green, "follow me." Harry led the kid outdoors and into the night. They went past the lake, past the Quidditch pitch, and along the borders of the forest. At last they reached a place Harry had only discovered last year. It was a very secluded area, completely circular, with an outline made of small clusters of fairy lights. "Stand in there," Harry commanded. When the boy did not move, Harry took out his wand and levitated the boy in. "What do you see?" he asked.  
  
"Bunch of trees your gitness, sir," the boy said, dully. Suddenly though, he went rigid. He stared avidly at what seemed only a patch of ground. He reached for his wand and pointed it at the spot. He aimed, and shouted "Stupify," and a pearly substance shot out of his wand, hit the spot he was staring at, bounced, went up into the sky, bounced again, and bounced onto the boy. He fell backward and onto his head.  
  
"Ennervate," Harry muttered, pointing to him. The boy stood up again, shaking. He was crawling slowly backward, away from the patch of ground. Suddenly, he stopped, turned around and sped off in another direction, only to let out an inhuman cry.  
  
"Let me out!" he shouted at Harry, ramming an invisible wall.  
  
"Another hour," Harry said, "and perhaps you'll learn your lesson." This was a place where your worst fears seemed to come true. The only thing stopping the boy from leaving was his fear that he couldn't leave. In reality, he couldn't be hurt by anything in there, except himself. After all, he was the only real thing in there. However, if Harry went in, the spell would immediately end. Instead, this place would become the perfect dueling arena. A thousand years ago, this ring had been used by sorcerers to battle, and the loser would be left inside, with only his fears to hold him captive. Once leaving, no one could remember what they had encountered, only that they must pay allegiance and obedience to the victor or else terrible things would befall them. At the end of the hour, Harry was going to duel this boy, and upon winning, the boy would hopefully be a bit more obedient.  
  
The screams were dying into short sobs now and it was time for Harry to enter. He bowed respectfully to the fairies and walked in. The sobs ended abruptly and the boy stood up from where he had been sitting, holding his knees.  
  
"And now," Harry said firmly, "we duel." The boy raised his eyebrow, but got out his wand, nonetheless. They bowed, walked away and turned around. "One...two...three..." Harry muttered. "Expelliarmus!" he shouted. The boy and his wand went flying, but did not land outside the limits of the ring. The boy grabbed it and before he could say a curse, Harry used a handy little jinx that made the opponent feel dizzy and disoriented without bothering to turn him in circles.  
  
"Pimblebimimble," the boy said, trying to curse Harry, but not making any sense. A second later he tried again. "P--" But Harry was too fast and drew a shield around himself while, at the same time, sending the boy's wand flying. He went running after it while Harry prepared for his next attack. This was too easy.  
  
"Reversi milo!" Harry shouted, and a million separate invisible hands pushed the boy back to where he had been ten seconds before, wand still far away. He ran for it, and as soon as he had got hold of it, shouted "stupify" at Harry. The spell passed by Harry like a gentle wind, his joints froze momentarily, but he kept going.  
  
"Partiflaxo!" Harry shouted, and the boy began to vainly pat himself, thinking himself to be unrobed.  
  
"Serpensorcia!" the boy shouted, and for the third time in his life, a snake crawled out of a wand, straight toward Harry. The boy suddenly seemed to realize that this was a grave mistake, remembering that Harry was said to be a parselmouth.  
  
"I'd love to have a chat," Harry said, not letting on, "but..." and he reduced the snake to the size of a worm, picked him up, transfigured a rock into a jar, put the miniscule snake in, and tucked it inside his robes. The boy looked at Harry as if he were a madman and threw a jelly legs curse at him. Harry's legs trembled slightly, but he willed it away and nothing happened.  
  
"I surrender!" the boy shouted, eyes bulging at Harry's ability to throw off a curse like that.  
  
"Very well," Harry said. He led the way out of the ring and the boy followed, head hanging. After about ten minutes Harry spoke again. "Follow the school rules, keep your nose out of trouble, listen to your conscience. Understand?"  
  
"Yes sir," the boy said, sounding deflated.  
  
"Now," Harry said, "tell me what your name is."  
  
There was short pause. "I don't have a name sir."  
  
Harry stopped and turned. "No name? Why not?"  
  
"She never gave me one."  
  
"She? Who are you talking about?"  
  
"_Her_."  
  
"Your mother, maybe?" Harry tried. It was no use though, he wouldn't say anything more. Harry took him back up to the castle and then went back up to his office to go to bed. He groaned. There was a very large stack of papers to correct. He checked his watch. It was only 11:30. He decided that he'd really rather get up early than tackle the stack tonight, so he slipped into his bedroom. As he closed his door a blinding pain came to his forehead. It was so painful, in fact, that Harry was forced to his knees.  
  
"No," Harry said to himself. "NO!" He crawled into his bathroom and gaped at his reflection in the mirror. His scar was glowing, pink and perfectly formed. "No, no, no, _no_, NO!" Harry shouted. Hands trembling, he pulled the jar from the inside of his robes and opened the lid. "What's your name?" he asked the snake, forcefully.  
  
"Bernard," it hissed back into the stillness of the room. All went black around Harry.  
  
A.N.: Cliff hanger! Ooh, this chapter was good! Thanks Peanut Butter for sending me that email, asking if I was going to continue. If I don't get reviews, I don't think that there's a purpose for continuing. I know you peeps are out there! Also, I only get a chance to write on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. Also, I hope Vampire Story Hunter read this, it should make him/her happier. 


	7. Aftermath

Chapter Seven-Aftermath  
  
By Marmalade Fever  
  
Harry tore his way through the room and out into the hallway, the jar with the snake still clutched in his hand. "Dumbledore," he thought, "must find Dumbledore!" This was bad, this was very, very bad. Voldemort was gone. He had been so sure of it. This didn't make sense. The man was dead for Pete's sake! He had seen it happen, he had buried him, he had performed every necessary precaution...the man was dead! The burning on his forehead slowly dwindled away.  
  
"Calm down, bucko!" the miniscule snake hissed from below.  
  
"You don't understand!" Harry muttered, not sure why he was bothering to explain anything to a snake.  
  
"Sure I do," Bernard said. "You are the Great One. The scar, it is there! Upon your head. You are Harrrrry Potttttter."  
  
"The scar was gone though! It was fading! Voldemort...Voldemort is gone!" The snake recoiled and went silent. Harry was walking blindly down the corridor, and was startled when he ran straight into someone. It was Snape.  
  
"Watch it, Potter!" He said.  
  
"You!" Harry said, eyes widening. He grabbed at Snape's wrist.  
  
"What in the world..." Snape said, attempting to tug his arm away. "What do you think you're doing!"  
  
"The mark, is it there?" Harry half-shouted. Snape's eyes narrowed into slits, but he rolled up his sleeve, nonetheless. His pale white arm was pearly and blank.  
  
"What is this about, Potter?" Snape almost sounded half-interested.  
  
Harry brushed his hair away from his forehead and Snape's eyes widened at the clarity of the lightning bolt. "It hurt!" Harry sneered. "And look!" He held up the snake. He whispered to it. "It says that you need a haircut!" Harry spat.  
  
The insult passed over Snape, who was still looking with rapt attention at Harry's forehead. "This," he finally said, "is not good!" Evidently, Snape knew something about the vanishing of Harry's "gifts from Voldemort." There was a look of fear in Snape's eyes that Harry had seen on very few occasions. A moment later it was gone.  
  
"Dumbledore needs to know," Harry said slowly, eyes fixed on Snape's.  
  
"Dumbledore," Snape said, equally slowly, "is not here. "He left after dinner for London and won't be back until Wednesday."  
  
"In that case," Harry said, "I'm going to the owlery." He turned around to leave, but Snape's drawling voice echoed past him.  
  
"Haven't you learned yet Potter, that it is dangerous to put things like these in writing?"  
  
Harry stood still. Snape had a point. There were still innumerous Death Eaters lurking about that had not yet been caught. Azkaban was tricky, due to the mixed loyalties of the dementors. "Fine, I'll wait 'til Wednesday," and Harry went back to his office for bed. The enormous stack of papers was still there. Still riled up, Harry sat down to work on them. It was well after one when he at last decided to go to sleep. He had a strange dream in which the snake, Bernard, was telling him a bed time story about how Neville Longbottom and Hagrid were both fighting over Madame Maxime as a guest to his and Hermione's wedding. Then Ron showed up with his hair completely green saying that it was the latest fashion in Paris.  
  
"Harry," Hermione said, nudging him. "Wake up! It's nearly eight- thirty!"  
  
"Huh?" Harry asked, blinking. She handed him a cup of coffee.  
  
"You were mumbling in your sleep," she said, laughing. "You said, 'Your hair looks like lima beans.'"  
  
"Oh," Harry said. "Yeah, I was talking to Ron... He'd dyed it... What time did you say it was?"  
  
"Eight-thirty! Come on! Classes start soon and you haven't even gotten out of bed!" Hermione paused as Harry rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. In the process he had uncovered the hair from his forehead. "H- Harry?"  
  
"Yeah?" Harry asked, going on a search for his shoes.  
  
"Your scar...?"  
  
Harry turned around abruptly. "It's back, I know..."  
  
"But..."  
  
"It hurt. I've got the parseltongue thing back, too. I was going to tell Dumbledore, but I ran into Snape. He said Dumbledore's in London, won't be back 'til tomorrow. He doesn't have the mark though."  
  
"This is not good!" Hermione said, aghast.  
  
"Yeah, that's what Snape said."  
  
"You don't think that V-Voldemort's b-back, do you?"  
  
Harry looked at her seriously, then shook his head. "Not possible... He's gone, I know he is. Listen Hermione, do you think you could leave for a bit so that I can get dressed?"  
  
"Sure," she said this calmly enough, but Harry could tell that she was in a panic.  
  
"I'll talk to you later," Harry said, fishing around in his wardrobe for a pair of pants.  
  
"Right," Hermione said, and left. Harry dressed, grabbed a donut from the teachers' lounge and went to his classroom, a mounding headache throbbing through his skull. By the time lunch rolled around, he felt half- starved and slightly dizzy. He met up with Hermione in the Great Hall.  
  
"Harry," she asked, still looking rather apprehensive, "you mind if I borrow Hedwig? I can't seem to find my owl anywhere."  
  
"Go ahead," Harry said, fixing himself a meatloaf sandwich. "Who are you writing to?"  
  
"My parents... I, I was going to tell them about, er, our weekend."  
  
Harry coughed on his pumpkin juice, but managed a smile. "Good, good..." he said at last. The excitement of the previous night had made him a little forgetful about their new relationship, not to mention the lethifold and his detention with lover boy. He'd nearly forgotten to tell her about that. The whole no name thing was really odd... and who was "she" anyway? Bellatrix Lestrange perhaps? Who knew? He told Hermione all about it, and she seemed just as puzzled.  
  
"Well," she said, after a pause, "I'm off to the owlery. I'll see you at dinner, okay?"  
  
"Sure, see you then," Harry said. He finished his meal and went back to his classroom to prepare for his next class. He had been able to capture a boggart in a cabinet and was eager to show it to the Gryffindors in his next class. Most of his students seemed to like him alright, or, at least, more so than the last few professors they'd had for the subject. Overall, he was very pleased with their progress.  
  
As the day went by the initial shock of his scar hurting began to wear off and he had almost convinced himself completely that Voldemort was not back. Nevertheless, when the next day came and Dumbledore was once more at the staff table at breakfast, Harry leaned over to him.  
  
"Professor, may I have a word with you later?" Purposely, Harry pushed his bangs out of the way. Dumbledore seemed to catch the clue.  
  
"Of course Harry, as soon as we're done eating, I think?" Harry nodded back and sat done again. He ate his porridge as casually as he could, glancing over to see what progress Dumbledore was making on his kippers. At last, the elderly man stood up and beckoned Harry to follow. He led the way, not to his office, but rather out onto the grounds and off toward the lake. It had rained the night before and the ground was rather soggy.  
  
"When did it come back?" Dumbledore asked, after a few moments of watching the giant squid perform a spectacular feat of synchronized swimming.  
  
"Monday night, about half past eleven," Harry said. Dumbledore seemed to make a mental note. "I felt it when I was in my office, ran to look in my mirror, and there it was. That's not all though. I can speak parseltongue again." Harry was a little worried that Dumbledore might ask him where he found a snake, as he wasn't sure if his little detention had been entirely appropriate. He didn't though.  
  
"Is there anything else you'd like to tell me?" Dumbledore asked, as he had on so many other occasions.  
  
"There is one thing," Harry said. "Do you know that Slytherin fifth year with the green hair?"  
  
Dumbledore paused to think. "Yes," he said.  
  
"Well," Harry said. "I had a detention with him that night. Anyway, I've been trying to figure out what his name is, and when I asked him that night, he said that he hasn't been named yet. Actually, his exact wording was that 'she' hasn't named him yet. I don't know what that means, but it sounds kind of important."  
  
"Are you certain he was telling the truth?" Dumbledore asked, looking out over the lake again.  
  
"Positive," Harry said, thinking of the attributes of the fairy ring. "Professor, was he here last year?"  
  
"He's a new student I believe. His paperwork said that his name is Barnabus Blithewick... but that is not to say that paperwork can't have a tendency to lie."  
  
Harry nodded, thinking for a second of the Daily Prophet, which, a few years back, did very little, it seemed, but lie. The clouds above made a threatening sound and a few drops broke loose. Somewhere in the castle a large bell let out its warning, and the two men walked back inside.  
  
"Keep me posted Harry," Dumbledore said.  
  
"I will."  
  
A.N.: Thank you for reading! (10 points to each of your houses!) I have a plan of action now... mostly. Next chapter, I think, will probably be that wedding. Feed back appreciated! Oh, and I thought I'd tell you that I bought three little fish and named them Harry, Ron, and Hermione. (Ron has an orangey tail, but you can't tell Harry and Hermione apart. lol) 


	8. A Wizard Wedding

Chapter 8- A Wizard Wedding  
  
By... well, if you don't know by now!  
  
The morning of October 22nd was a cold one. Harry and Hermione ate breakfast very quickly that morning and went with Professors Sprout, McGonagall, and Dumbledore, (as well as a few Hufflepuffs) to Hogsmeade Station and to the Chapel of the Greenery, which was located a good hundred miles away. The chapel itself was very old looking and was very covered in ivy. Which, Hermione pointed out, was probably the reasoning behind the name.  
  
"It's lovely, isn't it?" Hermione commented. "Very serene."  
  
Harry nodded, then noticed a friendly face in the crowd. Dean Thomas came up with a pretty girl that Harry didn't recognize. "Hello!" he said. "This is Amanda. I'm glad we finally found some familiar faces... I was starting to get worried."  
  
"Nice to meet you, Amanda," Hermione said, shaking the girl's hand, and Harry followed suit. "Have you to been seeing each other long?"  
  
"Oh no," Amanda started, "Dean's my bro—" and Dean gave her a poke in the ribs. "Ouch! For heaven's sake Dean! I'm his sister... I'm a, what was that word again? Murgle?"  
  
"Muggle..." Dean said, shaking his head sadly. "Yeah, couldn't find a 'guest,' but I guess you two couldn't either, huh?" He looked from Harry to Hermione.  
  
"Actually," Harry said, heat rising to his face slightly, "we've been dating for about a month now."  
  
Dean snorted. "Well then, congratulations. 'Bout time," he added. "Hey! There's Seamus! Amanda, please let him think you're my girlfriend? Look, he's with Lavender..." The two of them sidled off.  
  
"Want to go say hi?" Hermione asked Harry.  
  
"Nah, maybe later. Hey, there's Ron!" Ron had just apparated a few feet away with a girl in tow. At first Harry thought that it was Ginny, but realized that she was a stranger. Ron waved and they walked over.  
  
"Hey guys!" Ron said. "These are my friends, Harry Potter and Hermione Granger." Ron emphasized Harry's name slightly and the girl next to him looked very starstruck. "This is Bianca, she's a friend of Fleur Delacour."  
  
"Nice to meet zou," she said, very carefully. She had very long, titian, curly hair and a dreamy expression on her face. Her eyes were cinnamon colored and she was wearing a very fancy set of peach silk dress robes. Ron, who had recently gone for a Bill-look and grown his hair out, looked very proud to be in the company of someone so gorgeous. Bianca, on the other hand, seemed oblivious to this fact, smiling up at Ron as if he were the greatest thing since the discovery of cushioning charms for broomsticks.  
  
"She doesn't speak especially good English," Ron said.  
  
"My Eenglish iz fine," Bianca said, but kept her eye on the claw earring dangling from Ron's ear.  
  
"It's very nice to meet you Bianca," Hermione said.  
  
"Same here," Harry said.  
  
"So," Ron said, "you two find dates?"  
  
"Er," Harry started, he and Hermione had not yet told Ron about their relationship. "Er, look at the time! We better find seats." He rushed them into the chapel.  
  
"Bride's side or groom's?" a very ancient wizard asked them.  
  
"Either one, we're friends with both," Harry answered.  
  
The wizard gave them a pained look and sent Harry and Hermione to the bride's side and Ron and Bianca to the groom's.  
  
"You didn't tell him?" Hermione hissed into Harry's ear as they sat down.  
  
"You didn't either," Harry said back.  
  
"You're his best friend!" Hermione said.  
  
"So are you!"  
  
"He's going to be so angry!" Hermione said, looking uneasy.  
  
"Frankly, I'm surprised Ginny didn't tell him!"  
  
"Shh!" Hermione hissed again. An ancient organ in the corner had begun playing of it's own accord and the entire room had hushed. Back at the entrance a procession began. First came, not a little girl, but a pure white owl, dropping petals along the ground. A second owl followed, carrying a ring. Shortly after came a little boy and girl who simply walked without any real discernable reason. Then came the Bridesmaids and Best Men. Susan Bones was paired with Justin Finch-Fletchly, then came Zacharias Smith with Sally-Anne Perks, then Daphne Greengrass with a boy Harry didn't recognize. After that came a strange man who accompanied a strange woman, then came Professor Sprout with, strangely enough, a walking tree. About ten more unfamiliar faces marched down the aisle before the tune grinding from the organ changed and a veiled Hannah Abbott entered, arm in arm with her father. They stopped at the front where Ernie Macmillan, who was wearing very spiffy dress robes with a bowtie, was already standing. A man so ancient it was a wonder he was able to stand greeted them.  
  
"Welcome," said his highly cracked voice. "We are here to-day to unite one Ernest Robert Macmillan with one Hannah Louise Abbot in holy matrimony." Harry's thoughts wandered for a moment and he wondered if Mr. and Mrs. Macmillan had ever heard of Sesame Street. "Who gives away this woman?" As Harry shuddered to think that Hannah should be called a woman, Mr. Abbott stood. "If anyone has reason to believe that these two should not be wed, speak now or forever hold your peace." No one spoke, so the man went on. "The young people have asked to recite their own vows."  
  
Ernie straightened and put on a face of utmost smugness and became to recite, in a very practiced manner, his vows. "Hannah, I promise to stand by you, through thick and thin, through wet or dry, through hot or cold, through bad or good, through sickness or health, through hunger or prosperity..." Hannah seemed to shift slightly as Ernie's list dragged on. "...I will not leave you, Hannah, my darling, my dearest, my heart's desire, until death takes me. Even then, I will remain with you, forever and always. I love you." Everyone applauded.  
  
"Ernie, I love and always will. With the devotion of a house-elf, I will remain beside you. I love you, dear." Everyone applauded, though Hermione seemed somewhat skeptical after the house-elf metaphor. The ancient wizard went on in his crackly voice for another fifteen minutes, in which Harry had to struggle to keep his eyes open.  
  
"...And now, it is my greatest honor to announce that this couple may now be joined in wedded bless. May I have the wands, please?" Justin handed the wizard a pair of wands and the man gave them to Ernie and Hannah, who swapped immediately. Then one of the owls gave the man the rings. The rings were slipped onto the ends of the wands and Hannah and Ernie held them up and touched them end-to-end.  
  
"Repeat after me," the man said, "Unum." Hannah and Ernie did so and an enormous flash of pink light erupted. Several witches in the audience began to cry. "You may kiss the bride," the wizard said, ending the ceremony. Without further ado, Ernie lifted Hannah's veil and planted a rather rigid looking kiss on her. Harry felt Hermione's hand move into his. The occupants of the room began to stand and follow the young couple outside.  
  
"That was lovely," Hermione sniffed, dabbing her eye with her free hand. They were outside now and Ron's vibrant red head came towards them through the sea of people.  
  
"Zat was beautiful," Bianca said, staring once more up at Ron. Ron's eyes were distracted however.  
  
"Why are you two holding hands?" he asked, rather roughly, gaping at them.  
  
"We're, er, kind of..." Harry began.  
  
"We're dating," Hermione said, a pleading sound in her voice.  
  
"You and... you?" Ron said, rather stupidly.  
  
"Zat is good!" Bianca said. "I am glad zou are not liking Ronald." Ron was still gaping at them, mouth open, but Hermione motioned for Lavender and Seamus to come over.  
  
"Hey there!" Seamus said. "Nice ceremony, eh?"  
  
"Perfect," Lavender said, rubbing away a few stray tears.  
  
"Hey Lavender," Harry said rather suddenly, "you've got one interesting cousin."  
  
"Cousin?" Lavender asked, looking up and scratching her head.  
  
"Yeah," Harry said. "Betty. Hermione and I are teaching at Hogwarts."  
  
"Betty?" Lavender said, looking confused. "I have a cousin named Betty, but she's not at Hogwarts this year."  
  
Harry's mind jumped into a much more focused mode. "She, she isn't?"  
  
"No, she had a very bad accident over the summer. Broke her back and isn't allowed back at school for a few more months." Lavender was giving Harry a you're-crazy look.  
  
"Er, what happened, exactly?" Harry asked; hoping his tone didn't sound worried.  
  
"She fell off her broom from a three-hundred feet drop, as if you care."  
  
"Uh-oh," Harry said, giving Hermione a meaningful look.  
  
A.N.: Getting interesting? Bwahahahaha! Read n Review! :-D 


	9. Catch of the Day

Chapter 9- Catch of the Day  
  
By Marm  
  
Before Harry and Hermione had a chance to talk over what Lavender had just said they were interrupted by the rush of the crowd, which was reconvening down the road to an inn for a party. Besides this, Ron was badgering them still about their new relationship.  
  
"When did this happen?" he asked, eyes bulging.  
  
"My birthday, Ron," Hermione said, trying her best to console him.  
  
"But, but... how did this happen?"  
  
"Well, Harry kind of... er, it's kind of difficult to explain... He left me a few notes to meet him in Hogsmeade anonymously, and then he, er, confessed that it was him, and--"  
  
"AND?"  
  
"I told him that I've liked him back for years and... well, that's that."  
  
Ron was doing an odd sort of thing with his hands, rubbing the back of his neck as if trying to stimulate his brain. "Well," he said after a few minutes, "have you kissed?"  
  
Hermione went pink, but shook her head. "Not yet..."  
  
Ron let go a huge sigh. Bianca was lagging behind a bit, as they were walking at an unnatural rate. Presently, she strung her arm around his, as if claiming her territory for all onlookers to see.  
  
"You 'ave not keesed?" she said, rather surprised.  
  
"Er, no," said Harry, looking sheepish. His mind was still on the faux Betty.  
  
"But, Ronald, you said zat everyone en your country keess when zey get togezer."  
  
Ron's ears went very red and he went into a coughing fit. "I think you might have misunderstood me..." he said, lamely. (Please note, I mean no disrespect to Ron or Dean, it's just funny...)  
  
"Oh," Bianca said back, eyebrows arched slightly.  
  
"So," Ron said, trying to avoid the subject. "So, who's this Betty person?"  
  
"She's a student at school, or, at least, I thought so..." Harry said. He told Ron all about her as well as Lover-Boy.  
  
"Doesn't sound good Harry," Ron said, as they arrived at the inn and sat down at a table. The Weird Sisters had been hired and were playing in the corner.  
  
"That's what people keep saying..." Harry said, glancing over at an enormous cake in the corner, which consisted of eight tiers.  
  
"Ronald? Would zou like to dance?" Bianca asked, eying him in a lovesick sort of way.  
  
"Oh, sure!" Ron said, pushing his chair back so suddenly that it was in danger of toppling over. The two headed off together and instantly went into an odd sort of waltz.  
  
Harry looked slyly over at Hermione. "So... How 'bout it?"  
  
Hermione looked fit to burst, but said in fake calm, "Alright then." They stood up and moved over to the dance floor where Harry spotted Neville Longbottom talking animatedly to Amanda Thomas. Dean was on the other side of the room, flirting heartily with Daphne Greengrass. Harry looked back at Hermione and wondered if there weren't something to what Bianca had said... they'd been seeing each other for a month, perhaps it was time after all... In the end, Harry decided that dancing was quite enough for now. Something in Harry's stomach lurched slightly as he looked into her crystal- blue eyes. Meanwhile, the odd walking plant was also waltzing away with Professor Sprout and Harry overheard Amanda muttering something about Ents. The song ended and, winded, they went over for a butterbeer.  
  
"Attention everyone, attention!" Susan Bones had gotten up onto a chair and was holding a spoon and a wineglass. "Dinner will be served shortly, and then the bride and groom will be cutting the cake. But first, if all eligible young women would gather around, Hannah's going to throw her bouquet!" A squeal of delight went through the room. Hermione hurried forward and Harry and Ron stood together behind the throng of girls. Hannah performed a levitation charm and rose up a few feet into the air.  
  
"One... two... three!" she shouted and gave an enormous burst of energy as she threw the bouquet over her shoulder. To both Harry's delight, and horror, the bouquet landed neatly in Hermione's right hand and McGonagall's left. The crowd went wild for a moment and Ron whispered to Harry, "I thought she said young women. Oh, and congrats on your upcoming wedding." Ron seemed to have at last forgiven them.  
  
"You're just glad that Bianca didn't catch it, aren't you?" Harry said, smiling.  
  
"Mm, perhaps..." Ron said. Hermione ambled over with half the bouquet in her hand and looking slightly embarrassed.  
  
"Good thing you're dating Hermione, Harry, 'cause McGonagall might start fancying you, as you are so available," Ron said, teasing happily.  
  
"Grow up, Ron," Hermione said, but she was looking rather expectantly at Harry, nonetheless.  
  
"Er, I'm not about to propose right now," Harry said, but Hermione just kept smiling as if she knew better. At length, she wrapped her arm around him and they headed to the tables to find their places, which had been predetermined. At last, Harry found a place setting, which had a small card which read, in very fancy writing, "Mr. H. Potter, Chicken." Hermione's spot was directly beside it and Ron was on the other side with Bianca. Next to Hermione was Neville and down the table still were Dean, Amanda, Seamus, Lavender, Parvati and Padma Patil and their dates.  
  
"Looks like a Gryffindor reunion," Ron said.  
  
"Excuse me?" Padma retorted. She had not yet forgiven Ron for abandoning her at the Yule Ball, though she also seemed to be eying his earring in an odd sort of way.  
  
"Eggplant, my favorite!" Bianca said happily, and Padma eyed her warily as well. Then she seemed to think better of it and turned back to her date.  
  
"So, Lavender..." Harry said, after a few bites of his meal. "How exactly did Betty get hurt again?"  
  
"Well, I don't know why you'd care so much, but she was on her broomstick one day with a group of her friends and she must have panicked at being up so high and fell off," Lavender said dully.  
  
"And did her parents inform the school?" Harry asked, leaning forward so that his necktie fell into his water goblet.  
  
"I suppose... it's not like I spend that much time with her! My family went to see her in the hospital, but that's about it."  
  
"So, I guess a description of her friends is out of the question, eh?"  
  
Lavender rolled her eyes. "Like I said, I don't spend that much time with her. We've never been that chummy. She was only a second year last year and I certainly couldn't have been seen hanging out with her."  
  
"Right," Harry said.  
  
"And if you claim that you saw her, then I'd suggest you get yourself to a qualified eye Healer for a new set of specs."  
  
"Thanks," Harry said, blandly and turned back to his meal. When everyone was done eating Hannah and Ernie strode over the immense cake and each fed a haphazard looking piece to the other. Then everyone else got in line for a slice for themselves. After that it was time for another round of dancing... which wasn't quite as fun on a full stomach. After an outrageously fast dance Hermione, panting slightly, recommended that they go and offer their congratulations to Ernie and Hannah, who were sitting, looking overwhelmed and exhausted.  
  
"Hey there!" Hermione said as they came to a stop in front of the newlyweds.  
  
"Oh, hi!" Ernie said, straightening. "Thank you so much for coming!"  
  
"No problem," Harry said, "thank you for inviting us."  
  
"Oh, we were glad to invite you. After all, you do seem to be the man of the year," Ernie said, smiling in his most significant sort of way. "If it weren't for you, we'd be in danger of an attack from You-Know-Who. Quite a big gathering, after all."  
  
"Mm-hm," Harry said, nodding along.  
  
"Hannah, every thing has been simply gorgeous. Your dress is really pretty!" Hermione said.  
  
"You think so?" Hannah asked, looking very pleased.  
  
"Hannah, dear, may I have a word?" Mrs. Abbott said, coming over.  
  
"Of course mother," Hannah said, and left them with Ernie, who was hailed by a few of his fellow Hufflepuffs a moment later and Harry and Hermione were left to themselves. Around four o'clock, it was time to be getting back to school and all of the Hogwarts group set off. Harry and Hermione bid good-bye to Ron and left on the train.  
  
A.N.: That was pretty fun to write, though I felt a little pressed by time at the end there. Wanted to post it. Oh, and here's a small disclaimer.  
  
Disclaimer: Ents belong to J.R.R. Tolkien. 


	10. A Kiss or Two

Chapter 10- A Kiss or Two  
  
Harry woke late Monday morning and only had time to swing by the Great Hall for a minute. Hermione had already been there and left. Harry's first class for that day was sure to be interesting, for, of course, "Betty" would be in it. This seemed an excellent chance to observe her. He hurried back to his classroom and organized his notes. He then sat down behind his desk to wait. Any minute now the two blond pigtails would swing into the room. It happened after half the class had filed in. Harry watched her intently as she sat down and she seemed to catch his glance.  
  
"Today," Harry said, after everyone had sat down and finished their last minute Quidditch discussions, "we will be talking about what would happen if any of you choose to go down the wrong path and land yourself in trouble." There was an air of seriousness in his words that rendered the class motionless. "First, who can tell me what would happen, say, if some one were to perform an unforgivable curse on another human?"  
  
The hand of a small toothy boy shot into the air. "They'd be sent to Azkaban."  
  
"And what is so bad about that?" Harry implored. The little boy grimaced.  
  
"Well," the boy said, "I, er, well I don't know what's inside of there."  
  
"Azkaban is situated on an island that is virtually escape proof," Harry began. "But that is not the bad part. What's worse are the beings that guard it. Can anyone tell me about those?" A second passed and then a dark haired girl raised her hand. Harry kept her eyes on Betty about half the time to watch for signs of nervousness.  
  
"Demon Tours?" the girl said.  
  
"Close, but no banana," Harry said. "The beings are called Dementors. Can anyone tell me about them?" No one raised their hands. These students seemed to be just about as clueless about Azkaban as Harry had been in his third year. "Well, then, I'll have to tell you. Dementors are dark, hooded creatures that glide over the ground. Their arms are rotted looking and scaly. When these creatures approach, the air around you seems to freeze up. Your lungs don't feel as if they're working properly. An overwhelming feeling of dread, as if you will never feel happiness again, will come over you. This is because dementors feed on happiness. They exist only to drain you of any positive emotion you can render. Worse, to those who have experienced terrible things in their life, the dementors will draw these images to the front of your brain and force you to relive them. You can imagine what would happen if you were left with these creature for year after year. Many fall ill and die after being sent to Azkaban."  
  
The entire class had gone very still, all except for Betty, who was staring at Harry in an odd way, as if making up her mind. She was shifting slightly, eyes narrowing and breath coming in short puffs.  
  
"In your seventh year, those of you who choose to keep on taking Defense Against the Dark Arts, will learn how to ward off these creatures. Be warned though, this takes skill, concentration, and a wand... none of these are available in Azkaban." Harry went on with the lesson and gave them an example of a patronus. He also explained a bit about aurors and the branch of the Ministry dedicated to stopping crime.  
  
Quite suddenly, Betty seemed to come to a decision to whatever inner battle she seemed to be fighting. As the rest of the class pored over their textbooks in a section called, "Crime and Punishment," Betty stood up and screeched.  
  
"I HATE YOU!" Before Harry could react Betty had ran through the door and out into the hallway. This had definitely not been the reaction he had expected. Harry followed and emerged through the door to find the hall vacant, except, strangely enough, for Hermione. At that moment, the bell rang and as the hallway filled, Harry's thoughts of chasing Betty were pushed aside. Harry sighed and looked back at Hermione, who was smiling.  
  
"Did you see where Betty went?" Harry asked.  
  
"Yeah, she went towards the Great Hall," Hermione said, pointing. "I doubt you can catch her, though." Hermione's robes looked somewhat odd. The sleeves were a good two inches above her wrists. The last few stragglers from Harry's class pushed past him. Hermione had an odd look on her face and walked into Harry's classroom. Harry followed and came in, closing the door behind him.  
  
"What happened to your robes?" Harry asked, sitting down in a desk next to Hermione.  
  
"Oh, that!" Hermione said, looking down. "One of the kids in my class made me drop my ink bottle and it got all over my robes. I went to change and these were the only ones I could find. By then it was too late to go back to class... so I decided to drop by and see you." She was still looking at Harry with that same, odd look, something like expectation.  
  
"So," Harry said, suddenly feeling uncomfortable, "that Betty girl stormed off out of the lesson just before you arrived. She said she hated me."  
  
"Oh," Hermione said, "I'm sure that's not true. How could anyone hate you, Harry?"  
  
"Well, it's happened before," Harry said, smiling at Hermione's comment. "I mean, between Voldemort, Snape, and Malfoy..." Hermione looked down for a second and then stood up and began walking across the room. Had he said something wrong? Harry followed her and laid a hand on her shoulder. He had definitely not expected what happened next. Hermione turned around, put her arms around Harry's neck, leaned in, and sunk into a very long kiss. Harry was startled, but certainly didn't argue. He had never imagined Hermione to be so... passionate. A minute or so later, she broke away.  
  
"See you later, Harry," she said, looking almost sad.  
  
"Yeah," Harry said stupidly. "Yeah, see you." Hermione left and Harry's seventh years began filing in.  
  
"Hey there, Professor!" Ginny said, grinning evilly. "You have a nice time chatting with Professor Granger?"  
  
"Sit down, Virginia," Harry said back, glaring at her. At the same time he felt a flush creep up to his face.  
  
At lunchtime Harry went back to the Great Hall, feeling that his next encounter with Hermione would be an odd one. She was back in her normal robes again and seemed determined to act as if nothing had happened.  
  
"Harry," she said, "would you mind coming to the owlery with me? I still can't seem to find my owl. Maybe you could remember what he looks like better than I can?"  
  
"Sure," Harry said, staring determinably into his pudding. "Let's go." They walked up the many flights of stairs together and emerged into the dropping strewn owlery. "When'd you last see him?" Harry asked, looking around.  
  
"Not since you gave him to me," Hermione said. "You'd think he'd be here, it is the middle of the day! He should be fast asleep right now."  
  
"Here Owl, Owl, Owl!" Harry called softly. He then realized how stupid of a thing that was to say, as a barn owl, a screech owl, and Hedwig all came and rested on his shoulders. "Er, nevermind," he said to them and they flew back to their perches, looking disgruntled. Hedwig in particular gave him a reproachful look. "Does your owl have a name?" Harry asked.  
  
"No, I never had a chance to give him one. Plus, I'm a little stuck between a few different ones. First I wanted to make it historical, then witty, then I wanted to name him after old friends, then I just wanted to name him Fluffy. Then I realized that Fluffy is a three-headed dog—so I'm just feeling a bit, undecided." Hermione shrugged her shoulders and went on searching. "Harry," she said after a few more minutes searching, "you don't think he's been attacked, have you?"  
  
"Let's not jump to conclusions," Harry said, though he was thinking about something Professor Grubbly-Plank had said about thestrals having been known to attack birds. Harry checked his watch. "It's nearly time to get back, class will start any minute now."  
  
"Yeah, okay," Hermione said, reluctantly. Harry slipped his hand into hers, as was his new custom and she put her head down onto his shoulder. On an impulse, Harry turned to her. They stopped, and he leaned in and kissed her. A second later Hermione backed away, eyes wide. "Wow," she said, smiling. "Er, thank you." Harry smiled back and they walked back down to their classes.  
  
A.N.: Not long till be reach the end, now! 


	11. The Real Betty Brown

Chapter 11- The Real Betty Brown  
  
By Marmy Fever  
  
The first Hogsmeade weekend was scheduled for the second week of November. Harry and Hermione decided to take this weekend to visit Lavender's cousin, Betty—the real one this time. The young couple had been doing fine, though they had received an owl from Ron, announcing his break-up with Bianca. Apparently, she had thought that he was a much richer man than he was in reality. It had been a trip to his flat on which occasion a great bit of ceiling came falling down that had convinced her. Surprisingly, Ron seemed perfectly okay with it. She had been very forceful when it came to his manners, had always wanted the most expensive luxury items, and had a personality that left something to be desired.  
  
"I didn't like her much, really," Hermione said, after finishing the letter. "She was just kind of blah, you know?"  
  
On the morning of their trip to the Browns, they hiked into the village with students and apparated onto the front porch of a cozy looking home with a thickset wooden area to keep muggles away. There was also a large field in a sort of valley that looked like a good place to practice Quidditch. Harry approached the large doorknocker and it did its job without waiting for him. (The misuse of Muggle Artifacts office would have been appalled.) A few minutes passed and a plump middle-aged woman came to the door, wand in hand and covered in flour.  
  
"May I help you?" she barked at them, frowning.  
  
"Yes, we're the teachers from Hogwarts. We sent you the owl," Harry said.  
  
The woman looked them up and down, skeptically. "Aren't you two a bit young?" The woman was still frowning, considering them.  
  
"Well, maybe a little," Hermione admitted. "May we see Betty?"  
  
"She's in her room," Mrs. Brown said, sniffing. She wasn't budging from her spot blocking the entrance to the house.  
  
"Would you mind if we went in?" Harry asked.  
  
"Now see here. You two can't've been teaching for much longer than this year. What'd you say your names were?"  
  
"Well," Hermione said, feeling uncomfortable. "My name is Hermione Granger and this is Harry... Harry Potter." It was always odd to introduce Harry, as his name was so well-known.  
  
"And I'm the Queen of Latvia," the woman remarked, still not budging.  
  
"No, really, I am," Harry said, not believing his ears.  
  
"No, really. I'm the Queen of Latvia. Now let me go call his royal highness to escort you from the property!" She turned. "Brutus! Get down here, NOW!"  
  
Harry and Hermione turned to one another. Was this woman mad? A man of about 6 and a half feet came into the door way, so that the inside of the house was less visible than before.  
  
"Tarragon, butter, and dill weed!" the man said, ogling at Harry. "It's Harry Potter, Ma!" The woman poked him in the ribs with her elbow.  
  
"Course it ain't!"  
  
"No, really," Harry said earnestly. "Can we please just see Betty? We only want to talk to her."  
  
"Why, sure!" the man said, literally picking up his wife and placing her a foot or so out of the way so that they could enter. "She's upstairs, fourth door on the right."  
  
Harry and Hermione made a bee-line for the stairs and shuffled up them so quickly that it was lucky that they weren't at Hogwarts, or they would have had a foot stuck in one of them in no time. When they reached the fourth door on the right, they found it open and the back of a blond head was lying on a bed in the center of a very purple room. Hermione rapped on the door.  
  
"Go away Mama, I'm fine," the girl said.  
  
"We're Professors from Hogwarts," Harry said. The girl rolled over, groaning at the effort and looked at them.  
  
"Oh, hello," she said, looking confused. "Weren't you two the head boy and girl last year?"  
  
"Good eye," Hermione said. "Mind if we come in?"  
  
"Go ahead," Betty said, prying herself into an upright position. Harry and Hermione sat down on a small window seat in the corner.  
  
"We wanted to talk to you about your accident," Harry said.  
  
"Doesn't everyone?" Betty laughed. There was a photo on the wall that depicted a five-year-old Betty and a ten-year-old Lavender having a shouting match, nearly going to blows.  
  
"What exactly happened?" Harry asked.  
  
Betty groaned and rubbed her neck. "I was on a broomstick, playing Quidditch, the broom swerved strangely, and I fell." These words sounded dull, as if repeated many times.  
  
"Who were you playing with?" Harry asked.  
  
"My Dad, my younger brother, he's eight, and my friend Mary."  
  
"Mary?" Harry asked.  
  
"Yeah, I met her at camp over the summer. She's real nice. You know she has a nimbus? I was on it when I fell."  
  
"Does she go to Hogwarts?" Hermione asked.  
  
"No, some school in North Africa. She's British though." Hermione had gotten out a quill and began jotting this down.  
  
"Did you meet her parents?" Harry asked.  
  
"Nah, they were on holiday in Canada."  
  
"What's her sir name?" Hermione said, not looking up from her note- taking.  
  
"Blutchley... Why are you two so curious about Mary, anyway?"  
  
"We're just trying to figure out how you got hurt."  
  
"Well, it's obvious, isn't it?" Betty said. "It was the wind. I was never very good with a broom, anyway."  
  
"That's a possibility," Harry said.  
  
"What, you think someone tried to hurt me on purpose? Because Mary'd never do that!" Betty was starting to look pink in the cheeks.  
  
"We just want to check out all the possibilities, that's all."  
  
"What's this all about, anyway?"  
  
"Well..." Harry considered telling Betty that someone had been impersonating her at Hogwarts.  
  
"Well what?" Betty yelled. The pink flush had crept up onto her forehead. "I trust Mary, and she trusts me! She even let me borrow her owl! She told me a secret, one that she's never told anyone before."  
  
"What's that?" Hermione said, looking nervous.  
  
Mr. and Mrs. Brown came into the room. Mr. Brown held a plate of cookies, Mrs. Brown looking scandalized.  
  
"Don't you come in here and upset my little girl!" Mrs. Brown yelled. "Out, out, OUT!"  
  
"What did she tell you?" Harry asked, ignoring Mrs. Brown. Mr. Brown had set down the biscuits and looked prepared to throw Harry and Hermione out.  
  
"OUT-OF-MY-HOUSE!" Mrs. Brown screeched, looking livid.  
  
Harry withdrew his wand. "See here! We're trying to help!"  
  
Mr. Brown ignored the wand and set a hand both of their shoulders, pushing them through the room.  
  
"What's Mary's secret?" Hermione yelled. "It's important!"  
  
"She fancies Harry!" Betty said, who was clearly just as annoyed with her parents as they were. Mr. Brown shoved them from the room and Mrs. Brown closed the door behind them. When they reached the front door it literally spat them out.  
  
"That's for working up the women-folk!" Mr. Brown yelled and a large amount of cookies sprayed them as the door spat them out, too.  
  
A.N.: I don't have much to say in this authors note. Keep reading and reviewing... tell your friends. Lol I wonder if there's Latvian royalty... 


	12. Ew!

Chapter 12- Ew!  
  
By M-Fever  
  
Back at Hogwarts again, Harry and Hermione debated.  
  
"So, you reckon that this Mary caused Betty's accident?" Harry asked.  
  
"Well, she seems to be our prime subject. But I still don't think a thirteen-year-old could be up to all this."  
  
"What, you think she's an adult?"  
  
Hermione shrugged. "There's loads of ways to hide yourself. Sounds a bit like the whole Mad-eye situation all over again, doesn't it?"  
  
"I guess she could be using polyjuice potion... DRAT! I'd use my map of the school, 'cept it got burned up, remember?"  
  
"Yeah, that's too bad." The Marauders Map had been destroyed in a fire the previous year. Neville had been practicing a bit too hard for his N.E.W.T.s and the map had been in the wrong place at the wrong time as he misdirected a spell. "Polyjuice potion would be a bit difficult though. I mean, Moody had the hip-flask going for him, and Betty's hair isn't quite so readily available, now is it?"  
  
Harry massaged his forehead with his knuckles. "And what's up with Lover-Boy anyway? He doesn't make a lick of sense. 'She hasn't given me a name,' what the heck's that supposed to mean?"  
  
Hermione shrugged her shoulders, looking out the window at Hagrid's hut. "The students are coming back, now," she said. Harry came over and watched the procession. The miniscule figure of Betty, or Mary, or whatever her name was, had stopped to talk to someone. Harry tapped his glasses and muttered, magnifio. Instantly, he could see the two figures as if they were standing in front of him. The back of a tall, blond figure was to him, while Betty, a good head and a half shorter moved her mouth noiselessly. There was something familiar about that head. The two walked over to a slightly more secluded looking area. Harry could still make them out, despite the branches of a bush in front of them. The tall-somebody bent down and whispered something into her ear. Then Harry's stomach lurched uncomfortably. This person kissed her smack dab on the mouth. Harry grimaced, but was even more uncomfortable as he watched the figure turn slightly so that he recognized who it was. There, on the edge of the grounds talking to a girl five years his junior, was Draco Malfoy.  
  
"I think I'm going to be sick," Harry said, ogling at them.  
  
"What? Tell me what you see," Hermione said, squinting.  
  
"You don't want to know," Harry said, still staring. The figure of Malfoy turned again and walked back toward Hogsmeade. Betty, looking cool as a cucumber, rejoined a group of third-years.  
  
"What happened?" Hermione said, looking frantic.  
  
"Betty and—boy am I going to be ill—Malfoy just kissed!"  
  
"NO!" Hermione said, looking horrorstruck. "Ew! That's, that's disgusting! Didn't Betty say that Mary fancies you, Harry?"  
  
"Maybe, but... Ew. She must not mind having a beau at the same time."  
  
"She must be either really naïve or else really evil," Hermione said, shuddering. "Oh bother, I've got to go to the lou now," she said, covering her mouth and rushing from the room.  
  
Harry made up his mind and decided that the girl definitely was a girl, was probably older, and had let Malfoy in on her secret. He turned around; the room was now very out of focus. He tapped his glasses and could see normally again. He wrote down his new information on the mystery in his notebook Hermione had started for him. Whoever she was, she was probably about his own age. He doubted very much that she was any of the Slytherin girls from his year. Pansy Parkinson was clearly out of the question. If she could transform herself like that, than Harry was a bullfrog. Transform herself... Harry's mind flickered suddenly onto Tonks. Yes, that would do it. Perhaps this person was another Metamorphmagi. Still thinking of Tonks, it seemed funny that she was a first cousin to Malfoy, so any relative of hers was out. Was there, perhaps, a list somewhere of all those born Metamorphmagi? Or perhaps this wasn't regulated the same way as with Animagi. Afterall, Animagi weren't born with the gift. Hermione returned a moment later.  
  
"I'm going to the Owlery to send a letter to Tonks, want to come with?" Harry asked.  
  
"Sure, I can look for my owl a bit more," Hermione said. They took the fastest route and emerged in the Owlery a moment later. Harry got out parchment and quill as Hermione went looking for her spotted owl.  
  
Dear Tonks,  
  
Hey, what can you tell me about your gift? Teaching's great. See you.  
  
Harry  
  
The letter was certainly short, but he didn't feel like writing much at the moment. Hermione's voice came from a corner of the room.  
  
"Hey, I found him!" she said, holding a cross looking owl.  
  
"He doesn't look too happy, does he?" Harry commented.  
  
"Yeah, well, I think I woke him," Hermione said.  
  
"Hedwig?" Harry called, and the snowy white owl landed on his shoulder. "Take this to Tonks, will you?" Hedwig hooted softly and took flight. Hermione's owl wiggled its way out of her arms and flew up to the rafters.  
  
"I'm starving," Hermione said, not looking too hurt by her owl's disdain. "Let's go down to dinner."  
  
"Alright," Harry said, picking up his things, and they left.  
  
A.N.: Okay, that was 'bout a page shorter than usual, but I'm running out of ideas for this chapter. The conclusion's coming soon I think... 


	13. Voldemorts in the Closet

Chapter 13-Voldemorts in the Closet  
  
By Marmalade Fever  
  
"This is it," Hermione said, pausing on their way down the stairs from the Owlery.  
  
"What?" Harry asked, looking around.  
  
Hermione gave him a pleading look. "Think for a second."  
  
Harry thought, but shook his head, perplexed.  
  
Hermione sighed. "This is where we first kissed."  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
"Oh, come on! This is the step where you suddenly turned on me and gave me that smooch."  
  
"I know that, but what's this first kiss nonsense?"  
  
"Okay, let me be more specific. Our first kiss on the lips!"  
  
"Er, Hermione... You kissed me that same morning a few hours prior, don't you remember?"  
  
"I did not! I didn't even see you until lunch!" Hermione's livid expression suddenly went into a look of horror. "Oh no! You're not telling me that Betty took over my shape and tricked you into kissing her?"  
  
"Shoot!" was all Harry could say as he rubbed at his mouth. "I kissed the same person as Malfoy? Gross!"  
  
"Okay, now this is getting personal!" Hermione said, looking enraged. "How could you have thought that she was me, anyway? Didn't the Hufflepuff robes give it away?"  
  
"You, er, she said that you, she had to go change because someone spilled on them. They were a bit too short, but there wasn't a crest on those robes anywhere!"  
  
"I am going to kill that little imposter!" Hermione said, looking lethal. The portraits on the walls were now all staring at them, transfixed. "Come on!" Hermione said, dragging Harry by the arm down the stairs, still cursing the girl. A few flights down, Harry had to stop her.  
  
"Did you hear something?" he asked.  
  
"Only the sound of that brat smooching people all over the place!"  
  
"No, listen!" Harry hissed. Shuffling noises were emanating from behind a door to their right. "Do you know whose class that is?"  
  
"I think it's just an extra," Hermione said, listening. Harry got out his wand and walked up to it. He tried the knob, but it was locked.  
  
"Alohomora," he hissed. Nothing happened. "Why is my knife always broken at times like this?"  
  
"Come on, we'll figure it out later," Hermione said. "I'm starving."  
  
"Well, you can go on without me, I want to get to the bottom of this."  
  
"It's probably nothing," Hermione said, though she didn't sound convinced by her own words.  
  
"I'm going to force this door in," Harry said, firmly.  
  
"Fine," Hermione said, "but then we've really got to eat dinner, okay?"  
  
"I make no promises," Harry said, laughing. He held his wand up and aimed. A second later the door was lying flat on the ground. The inside of the room was pitch-black. "Lumos." Hermione screamed. Inside there were a half dozen creatures that looked like humans gone dreadfully wrong. Harry's scar prickled horribly. The men all had a distinct resemblance to Voldemort. They seemed to be incredibly dull-witted, running into one another as they fought to get to the door. Harry and Hermione both raised their wands and yelled "Stupify!" The nearest few wobbled over onto the ones behind them, which roared madly. When they were at last all stunned Harry and Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. Looking further into the room they saw cages and cages of small animals.  
  
"Still want to eat dinner?" Harry asked, shakily.  
  
"I think I've lost my appetite," Hermione said, peering at a creature nearest her, which was so close to the real thing that she could have fainted on the spot.  
  
"Looks like Betty's been a bad girl," Harry muttered, stepping over an arm to get a better view. "What do you think she's up to?"  
  
"Trying to resurrect the Dark Lord," came a voice from behind them. Harry and Hermione whipped around. There, with the door back up and bolted behind them, was Betty. Wand raised, she aimed at Hermione and, before they had time to react, she was transfigured into a turtle.  
  
Without thinking, Harry grabbed his girlfriend and stuffed her into his pocket. "You!" he shouted. "Or should I say, Mary?"  
  
"Not even close!" The face of Betty had started to change. The pigtails were slowly retreating into the girl's head and were turning dark brown, nearly black. Her skin subtly became even paler than before. Her body was lengthening and soon Harry saw before him a girl of about his own age. "My name is Mildred Ana Cartwright."  
  
A.N.: I'm sorry; I couldn't resist leaving you with a cliffhanger! Thank you to everyone who has been so faithfully reading and reviewing! You guys rock! All will be revealed soon! (And, to make Professor Trelawney happy, I will not be leaving you with only 13 chapters.) 


	14. The Transfiguration Master

Chapter Fourteen-The Transfiguration Master

By M-Fever

Harry wracked his brain but did not recall anyone by that name.

"What, never heard of me?" Mildred said, calmly twiddling her wand.

"No," Harry said, still staring at her.

"I'm not surprised. My heritage is rather interesting, though. Would you like to hear about it?" Harry didn't answer, but she took this as a yes. "Long ago there lived a beautiful woman and her sister. This woman married a wizard and she became pregnant. Before the birth, the wizard died suddenly during a duel. When the birth did take place, the woman died too, leaving her infant daughter alone in the world. This little girl was sent to live with a muggle family, without a clue who her parents were. Do you know why she wasn't sent to live with her aunt?"

"No, but I have a feeling you're going to tell me."

"The sister of the beautiful woman had also had a child with a muggle man. She too had died. Anyway, the little girl turned out to be a squib. Without admission into Hogwarts, she lived her life as a muggle. When she married, she had a son. He too was born a squib and lived the life of a muggle. He and his wife bore a single daughter. At last, the line of squibs was broken! When a letter from Hogwarts arrived for the girl, the parents did not know what to do. The child had always been peculiar. For instance, she was able to transform her face at will. That child was me. My parents would not allow me to attend this school of Witchery. Instead they decided to smother me, try to drive the peculiarity right out of me! It didn't work. One month later I ran away from home. With my power to disguise myself, it was easy. I endured many hardships; it is true. At last I found a place that accepted me as me. I took board at a small school of wizardry in Belgium. The school was so small, in fact, that there were only about fifteen of us. I studied hard and became very powerful.

"When I was on holiday at the age of fourteen I stumbled across a piece of intriguing information. I found out about my heritage. There was a very important part of it that very few knew. The child born of my great-great aunt had become the Dark Lord. Aside from my squib relatives, I was his only remaining kin. I received news not long after that my father had passed. My grandmother, heart-broken, did too a year later. My goal in life became to find my cousin.

"I had learned long ago about the boy who had defeated him. Only a year or so younger than me, I was intrigued. He and I and my cousin all looked a bit similar. All of us with the same dark hair. You, of course, had been admitted to Hogwarts. I had become obsessed, both with you and my cousin. I hated and loved both of you at the same time.

"All this time I had become stronger and stronger in my skills. Being able to transform myself and objects became a specialty of mine. When, two years ago, I graduated from my school, I had become, I daresay, one of the most powerful witches in existence. I sought to find my cousin. I caught sight of him once, and once only. His death eaters would not allow me to approach. Not long ago I heard the news of his demise. I was enraged and swore to bring him back.

"I met Draco Malfoy over the summer. We clicked instantly. I kept my muggle and squib heritage a secret from him. I did tell him about my relation to the Dark Lord. He found it very interesting. It turned out that he hated Harry Potter as well. I found out about the position available at Hogwarts as Transfiguration professor. I applied, but Dumbledore was blind. He had already found a 'more suitable candidate.' I would not let him keep me from Hogwarts. I disguised myself as a young girl and found another at a camp who went to Hogwarts. I pretended to be her friend. She trusted me. I lured her into a sense of calm and allowed her to ride my broomstick. I forced it to buck her off. I interceded the letter her parents sent to Professor Dumbledore. Instead I decided to go in her place. Draco made one more suggestion. It wasn't the best plan, but I thought it might be fun. I decided to transfigure an animal into a human boy, control it with the imperius curse, and have it wreak havoc on the school while I continued to play the innocent. I especially wished for him to disrupt the lives of Harry Potter and whoever had taken over as Transfiguration Professor. Draco sent me a late letter telling me that Harry Potter had bought this new professor an owl. This seemed the ideal candidate."

Harry had listened silently this whole time, and his emotions were raging within him. Lover-boy was Hermione's owl! So she was the one who hadn't named him.

"On my first day of classes, I saw you. Your scar was gone. It didn't make sense. Desperate to make you notice me further I stunned two of my classmates. They had been making fools of themselves. You weren't impressed. As time went on I realized that you and this 'Professor Granger' were in love, or near to it. I was enraged. I transfigured an old cloak into a lethifold and sicked it on her. Meanwhile I was working on bringing back the Dark Lord. With my powers of transfiguration, I was able to make many near-perfect bodies. I had a bit of his father's bone from his gravesite and I also had my own blood. To bring him back completely was easier said than done. His mind was tricky. On one night I grew very close but I was disrupted when I felt my bond with the owl-boy thin. The next day I saw that your scar was back. I was pleased!

"Some time later I realized that you must have found out something of my plan. In class you kept droning on about punishments. You even had the indecency to mention the penalties for using the unforgivable curses on fellow humans! I use them only on animals turned human. There is a big difference... The idea that you disliked me so much began to gnaw away at my nerves. My hate for you overtook me and I announced it. I had an alterior motive though. Class was nearly over. When I ran outside I immediately morphed into that stupid little mudblood Granger. I used a combination severing and vanishing charm of my own invention to remove my Hufflepuff crest. When you came out you believed me to be her. This was my only chance to get my deepest heart's desire. One kiss was all I ever wanted. It was wonderful, Harry... even if I do hate you, and believe me, I do hate you. You killed the greatest wizard ever known. Someone who could have given me power... perhaps have seen me as an apprentice. Now I'm stuck in this horrible school playing the part of an adolescent, stuck watching you and turtle-girl make googley eyes at one another. My only vent is to make these pathetic copies in hopes of reviving the Dark Lord." She stopped. Harry was staring at her very hard. Hermione was squirming in his pocket.

"You're a little sick, you know that?" he said. "You can't bring people back to life by replicating their body!"

"What makes you so sure?" Mildred asked, clicking her tongue. There was a grin playing at the edge of her mouth.

"Because they wouldn't have the same memories, never mind magical ability!"

"You're very thick, did you know that? I was sure that you were one of the few people who would understand my genius, but I guess not." The essence of a grin was spreading and it looked as if it was taking her some effort to keep it at bay. Harry's wand was still clutched in his hand. If he could just distract her enough to be able to stun her...

"Fine, explain it to me!"

"Did I not say that I have some of his father's bone?"

"Yeah, are planning to make a recipe out of him?"

"In a way. I also said that I have my own blood. By mixing these I can bring back some of his DNA. DNA... such a muggle term, isn't it? As for magical ability, I've had a theory in mind for quite a while." She paused, the grin becoming more and more prominent. Harry absentmindedly noticed that her grip on her wand had become less relaxed and a bit more firm.

"What would that be?" Harry asked. In truth he was just playing for time, trying to decide on the best spell to use. Expelliarmus sounded good to him.

"Over the years Harry, I have heard quite a lot about you. I've heard that that scar on your head is not normal. It is supposed to link you to my dear cousin. It is my thought that it contains magical residue directly related to him. If I could only have that scar..." The grin had fully spread over her face and the glint in her eye was downright creepy.

"EXPELLIARMUS!" Harry shouted. Mildred's knuckles were white as she continued to grip her wand, which was tugging so hard that it looked close to snapping. Without thought Harry yelled again. "STUPIFY!"

Mildred was too quick. "IMPEDIMENTA!" she shouted. The result was that both fell flat on their backs. Impedimenta was short-lifed. Harry was for once glad about it. In front of him, Mildred looked as if she were trying to morph, but was having trouble. Hermione had crawled out of his pocket and was now moving across the floor toward Mildred. She was running as fast as she could. It looked as if she was trying to get to Mildred's wand. The curse on Harry broke off and he scrambled to his wobbily legs.

SNAP! Hermione's jaws closed around Mildred's wand and it broke in two. Mildred was rocking gently on the ground now and Harry only had time to stuff Hermione back in his pocket before she opened her eyes. To his horror they had turned bright red. Scare tactic, Harry thought.

"YOU FOOL! You think I need a wand? I can change into any figure I want, so long as it's human. Besides, there is something else to do my job for me."

"She's bluffing," Harry thought to himself. Nevertheless there was something about her blood-red eyes that gave him an uneasy feeling. Mildred held up her hand and snapped her fingers. There was the sound of a door opening behind Harry. The muscles in his neck tensed and he turned slightly. A long dark corridor had opened behind him. To his horror, something was moving through the darkness.

"Oh Tom!" Mildred called sweetly, as if to a young child. Harry felt as if he were about to be ill. Through the darkness came the figure of a man of about fifty. His hair was dark and his eyes were blue. He was younger than Voldemort had been when he had died last spring. This figure had his old body from back when he was at large. The prickle in Harry's scar increased.

"He'd be perfect if I could only infuse some of the flesh from around your scar into him," Mildred said, sounding perfectly maniacal now. The figures on the floor gave the slightest signs of stirring. "I spent a lot of time perfecting his brain pathways. I transfigured every last cell to get just the right pattern of deoxyribonucleic acid. I think that the real key to his production might have been that I used a snake as a starter. Hampsters just weren't working for me. Besides, this way he's already a startlingly good parsel-tongue. It took me months to perfect a perfect memory transplant potion. I had a very hard time tracking down the right ingredients during my down-time... I'm sure to get an A in potions though! That Snape character seems to have taken a liking to me, even if I'm not in his house." Harry had an ominous feeling in his stomach. Hermione's robes and wand were lying on the floor in a heap and he hoped he could get to them before either of them did. Barely even moving his mouth he said in his softest voice, "Accio wand." Hermione's wand flew into his hand. One wand in his right hand and one in his left he held them up to either side of him.

Mildred clicked her tongue. "Uh, uh, uh!" she said in disapproval. "Tom, show him what I've taught you, darling." The oddly blank looking Voldemort stepped forward a bit and, Harry wasn't really expecting it, simply grabbed the wand right out of his left hand. "Crucio," he said lightly. The faintest of tickles went through Harry's body. This Voldemort definitely needed some practice, or at least some magical ability in the first place.

"That all you got?" Harry asked, laughing out loud. "Invinetascartum!" he yelled. (Note, that's not real Latin, I'm lazy.) Harry didn't know what possessed him to use this particular curse. It had simply been the first thing to pop into his head. He whipped around as he said it so that both Mildred and "Tom" were hit. It affected Tom much more. He began to scratch all over as if covered in invisible chicken pox. The thing about the curse was, that by scratching the curse only got worse, so the victim eventually felt as if he or she were on fire.

"STOP SCRATCHING YOU FOOL!" Mildred yelled, though she was resisting with all her might to rub at herself and seemed to be doing a bit of a dance on the spot.

"Itchy," the faux Voldemort whined, though he seemed to make a slight effort to stop. Mildred screwed up her eyes in concentration and suddenly began to take the same shape as her minion. She winked at Tom and they both began stalking around Harry in a circle, apparently in an effort to confuse him.

"EXPELLIARMUS!" Harry cried again, pointing at the one of them with the wand. Hermione's wand flew into his hand once more. Harry was starting to find their meaningless taunts exhausting. An idea had just come to him. He had not, after all, been such a loser at Transfiguration that he could not play the game himself. He wouldn't risk reverting Hermione back himself, that was a job for McGonagal, but he didn't mind reverting the fake Voldemorts. He quickly muttered a spell at one of the figures on the floor and it suddenly turned into a still rabbit. "Ennervate," he muttered at it. After he had done this it seemed rather pointless. Something behind him made a noise. Apparently when he had said ennervate, the other wand had performed on one of the other fake Voldemorts. It stood and looked livid. Now he had another one to deal with.

"You're very lucky your little girlfriend broke my wand Harry," Mildred said, though the voice sounded like Voldemort's. "I've discovered great things about transfiguration... It is my belief that it is the most valuable subject, as you can turn anything into anything else. Brilliant!" While Harry had been turning around in an effort to keep all in sight, one of them had made a dash at his pocket. Harry's heart stopped. The small turtle formerly known as Hermione was being held up in the air and their was a gleam in the eye of her captor that gave him and uneasy feeling. "We'll surrender her if you surrender the extra wand. After all, fair's fair." Mildred had morphed back into herself and was revealed to be the one holding Hermione.

"Accio turtle!" Harry said, automatically. Hermione didn't budge, though one of the Voldemorts on the ground came flying toward him. Harry only had time to dodge it, but it gave him an idea and he quickly muttered an incantation to revert it back into a turtle. Harry picked up the duplicate turtle and looked proud, though he hadn't yet figured out how he could pull off a switch.

"Come now, that won't work," Mildred said pleasantly.

"Sure it will," Harry said back, though he still was unsure of what to do. "Accio Hermione!" he shouted, as Mildred seemed to lessen her grip for a half second. Hermione came flying safely into his hand, causing Harry to drop his second wand. It rolled right up to Mildred and, with Harry's hands full, she picked it up. Harry stuffed each turtle into his pockets and looked livid. "If it's a fight you want, let's settle this properly and have a duel!" Harry said.

"A duel?" Mildred said, her eyes brightening. "That's the best idea I've heard all day.

"I know the perfect place," Harry said, smiling because he finally had a plan.

A.N.: I had seriously thought that she'd be defeated by now, but I've run out of time to write for today, so I'll have to continue later. Congrats to Desolation Lily for figuring out the owl thing. There's probably two chapters left, I think... unless I can wrap it up in one.


	15. Dueling

Chapter 15- Dueling

By Marmalade Fever

"Where is this place?" Mildred asked, holding Hermione's wand up to her nose to get a good look at it.

"Outside, on the grounds," Harry answered, hoping she'd follow.

"Well, if we're going to be going out, I'll have to find something... more suitable to wear." With that she morphed into Hermione. The sight of her like that gave him the chills.

"You're going to have to leave your little friends here," Harry said, gesturing to all the fake Voldemorts.

"That's just fine, darling," she said, her voice sounding painstakingly like Hermione's. In one of his pockets, Harry could feel uneasy squirming.

"Follow me," Harry said, and Mildred opened the door and they walked down the stairs. To his horror, she slung her arm into his.

"What're you doing?"

"Trying to look convincing."

"Great, just great..." He led her down through the castle. In the Entrance Hall he could hear the echoing of a hundred voices eating dinner. Harry was about to open the door to the grounds when a voice came from behind him.

"Potter, this is a place of learning. It would be best if you didn't strut around arm in arm like that in front of the students." It was the voice of Snape. Harry wasn't entirely sure if his presence was a good thing or a bad thing. Mildred's hand had tightened around Hermione's wand and Harry knew that she was threatening him, though her face looked perfectly passive.

"I'll keep that in mind," Harry said. He tried to give Snape a meaningful look, but it was pointless.

"See you," Mildred called sweetly. Snape eyed her, but continued in the other direction toward the dungeons. As soon as they were out of the castle, Harry threw her arm out of his.

"This way," he said, leading her toward the Forbidden Forest. The sky was darkening. They were about a quarter of the way to the fairy ring when Mildred stopped in her tracks.

"Draco, darling, is that you?" Harry stopped and swung around. In the shadows of the forest came the figure of Draco Malfoy.

"Gee Granger, since when do you call me darling?" he said, sounding his usual pompous self.

Mildred frowned. "Maybe I can improve your memory a bit," she said, strutting forward and draping her arms around him. Harry felt sick again. After what seemed like ages they finally stopped kissing.

"Aha, nevermind, I get it now," Malfoy said, looking over at Harry with a contemptuous grin. "So, if you're you, then where's the real Granger?" he asked Mildred.

"His pocket," she said, gesturing dully over at Harry.

"Wish I could have seen that."

"Shut up Ferret-Boy!" Harry said, teeth gritted.

"Now, now boys, don't fight. There's plenty of time for that when we reach this perfect dueling site you mentioned... We're going to duel darling. I'm so glad you'll be here to see me wipe the floor with him," Mildred said, smiling. "As soon as he's down you can help me perfect my little science project."

Malfoy actually looked uncomfortable. Perhaps he didn't really like the idea of resurrecting the Dark Lord either. "Actually, I can't stay. I've got to be getting home. It was very nice seeing you, 'Dred."

Mildred pouted but gave Malfoy a quick kiss and she and Harry continued on their way.

"You two make a perfect couple," Harry said, after a while. "Both of you are completely evil, not to mention sickening."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Mildred said, eyes twinkling. At last they arrived at the fairy ring.

"Ladies first," Harry said, hoping he could trick her and leave her there while he went for help.

"No, no, I think it would be best if we went in together," Mildred said, now morphing back into her normal body. Several inches of wrist were visible where her robes didn't cover her arms. Now, for the first time that evening, Harry realized something. She had not taken the precaution of removing her Hufflepuff crest. There was a good chance that Snape had noticed this. If she were not watching him, he'd have grinned.

There was one problem with his plan. He couldn't bring Hermione, turtle or no, in with him. Only two people were allowed in the ring at one time.

"Give me a second," Harry said, getting his wand out and aiming at a tree stump. He transfigured it into a sort of cage.

"Sloppy job Potter, that will never hold your little girlfriend," Mildred said, as Harry bent down to put Hermione in.

"You do it, then," Harry said, backing away from the stump. Mildred aimed and the half-formed cage turned into a fully formed and rather impressive cage complete with a water dish and some leafy greens. Harry placed both turtles inside. He still wasn't sure why he had decided to untransfigure that Voldemort into a turtle. He stood up again and he and Mildred stepped lightly into the ring.

"One...two...three," they said in unison after bowing to one another. Harry launched first with a disarming spell. Mildred deflected it with a shield charm. Harry then sent a bat bogey curse at her. The wings that sprouted out over her face sunk back into her skin as she morphed. She then transfigured a stone into a bludger and it came flying at Harry, who dodged it with his Quidditch reflexes and smashed it with a good reductor spell. It went back and forth for several minutes. They each seemed to know exactly the right move to use to counter the other. Harry amped his game up a little and started using some of the techniques he had learned that helped him against Death-Eaters. She wasn't perturbed, and kept up amazingly well. Her specialty seemed to be to try and transfigure anything in the ring into anything that could do him bodily harm. Harry shot spell after spell at her and she did the same. "Okay," Harry thought to himself, "time to go get tricky."

"Wingardium leviosa!" he said, aiming at her. She was off the ground and flying around him. He then hit her with a jelly legs curse as soon as she hit the ground. She couldn't stand. Now was the time to attack. He summoned his energy and hit her with a curse that caused the skin to feel as if it were melting off the bones. He had found it in a book in the restricted section of the library. She hit him with a curse that caused short-term eyesight loss. Blindly he hit her with a pepper breath curse. He could hear her coughing. Behind him came the crunching of shoes in grass.

"Expelliarmus!" came the voice of Dumbledore. Harry's wand shot from his grip and he heard Mildred moaning. Harry blinked and things began to come into focus around him. "Harry! Who is this?" Dumbledore called, concernedly.

"This, Professor, is Mildred Ana Cartwright, also known as the imposter posing as Betty Brown," Harry announced, looking up to see Mildred cradling herself on the ground. Professor Snape was standing behind Dumbledore. McGonagall was peering down at the two turtles in the cage.

"Well, Harry, I believe I can declare you the winner," Dumbledore said. "Those are some nasty boils," he added, looking over at Mildred.

"She's a metamorphmagi," Harry announced.

"Oh, yes," Dumbledore said, pulling a piece of parchment out of his pocket, lifting his wand, and uttering a small countercurse. Mildred stayed stationary. "She won't be able to morph for a fortnight, I'm afraid," he said. Harry got to his feet. "Please escort her from the ring and we can discuss more of this later, but for now, I think we should be getting Miss Granger back to her old self."

Harry pulled Mildred out of the ring after him. "Hermione's one of those turtles, I'd recommend using accio to figure out which."

"Noted," Dumbledore said, giving a look towards McGonagall, who removed the two turtles and, with a pop, Hermione was standing amongst them again. "Now, let's be getting back to the castle..."

A.N.: An epilogue is coming.


	16. Epilogue

Epilogue

By Marmalade Fever

Directly after Mildred was removed from the ring, the five Hogwarts Professors took her up to the castle and then a ministry member came and escorted her to Azkaban, where her morphing powers did absolutely nothing around Dementors. The fake Voldemorts that she had been working on were reverted back into animals and donated to the Transfiguration Department. Professor McGonagall was especially struck by their mere creation. Harry and Hermione served out the rest of the year. The following September, Hermione was promoted to full professor and Minerva McGonagall became Headmistress of Hogwarts. Albus Dumbledore retired, though continued to maintain his duties. He died twenty years later.

Hermione woke on Christmas morning one year after the incident. She was in her bed at her parents' house, having gone home for the holidays. At the foot of her bed was the usual pile of presents. After opening a few books she found a very small parcel hidden under a few stray pieces of wrapping paper. She opened it up and gasped. Inside was a sapphire and diamond encrusted ring. With a pop, Harry Potter appeared out of thin air at the end of her bed.

"Hermione," the nineteen-year-old said, "will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

Tears welled up in her eyes as she slowly nodded. They hugged for several minutes before going downstairs, where the entire Weasley family was waiting to congratulate the young couple. Ron, in particular, looked overjoyed and she could hear him sounding teary as he offered up his congratulations.

When the time came for them to return to Hogwarts, they were very surprised to hear that Professor Flitwick had also proposed to Professor McGonagall... and the race was on.

Four years after, Hermione became the first Hogwarts Professor ever to have to postpone exams in order to go to the hospital and give birth to a beautiful dark haired girl. Marie Potter was soon joined by Daphne, Harold, and Ronnie (short for Veronica) Potter... all of whom made life very difficult for a certain Professor Snape. They attended a private muggle school until they were ready to become first years at Hogwarts, at which time they saw their parents a whole lot more.

Ron Weasley married a muggle girl named Melissa Hartwell, who also had red hair. Their children were amazingly well-behaved and the eldest of which fell in love with Daphne Potter, married, and at last united the three friends forever through their grandchildren.

As for Lover-Boy, he remained Hermione's pet owl and was never transformed into a boy again. He and Hedwig had a very odd looking chick named Artie.

A.N.: Thank you all for taking the time to read this! This is the end of this fic, unless I should ever decide to write a sequel, but I don't I'm going to. Thank you everyone! I hope you liked it!


End file.
